The Pitt Medical Terminology Practice Test

Advanced scarring of the liver is cirrhosis. This term describes late-stage liver disease where ongoing injury leads to widespread fibrosis (scar tissue) and the development of regenerative nodules that distort the liver’s architecture and impair function. Fibrosis refers to scar formation in the liver, but cirrhosis is the more severe, irreversible stage with nodularity and architectural disruption. Hepatitis means inflammation of the liver and can contribute to damage, but it is not the scarred, end-stage condition itself. Steatosis is fatty liver, a different pattern of injury. So the best term for advanced scarring is cirrhosis.