Patients with cirrhosis of the liver develop a condition known as portal hypertension. This is a medical term used for increased resistance to blood flow in the liver, which happens in advanced stages of liver disease. Portal hypertension leads to diversion of blood away from the liver to the food pipe and stomach. This essentially leads to development of enlarged veins (called varices) in the food pipe/stomach which can often rupture and cause internal bleeding. Patients with cirrhosis therefore need to assessed for presence of varices in the food pipe/stomach. For this periodic endoscopies are necessary. Portal hypertension can be treated by medications. Portal hypertension can occur in other conditions apart from liver cirrhosis, such as vascular diseases of the liver where the blood vessels carrying blood to the liver get blocked (portal vein thrombosis).