Hepatology

The Cardiff & Vale UHB Liver Unit has a large team of specialist doctors and nurses dedicated to providing first class care to patients with liver disease.

Treatment for liver disease at Cardiff & Vale UHB

The Cardiff & Vale was one of the first units to register with the Improving Quality in Liver Services (IQILS) scheme and is working towards accreditation to acknowledge the high quality of care delivered by our service. Our patients are integral to our success and we are grateful to the patients that donate their time to help develop our services and encourage people to join the patient support group.

This website provides information about our facilities, services and performance. It has an evolving number of resources for patient education, links to external resources and information for our referring clinicians and partners.

There are many types of liver disease which can be hereditary, contracted from a virus or as a result of excessive use of substances like alcohol, or of being overweight.

It is well known that high alcohol consumption can result in liver damage. However, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), predominantly caused by obesity, is now the leading cause of chronic liver failure. Fatty liver disease can progress until it becomes liver cancer. 

Several liver diseases, including cirrhosis and fibrosis of the liver – where scar tissue slowly replaces normal, functioning liver tissue – lead to liver damage or liver failure.