- Or strong suspicion of cirrhosis by accepted criteria for the clinical diagnosis of cirrhosis (e.g. peripheral edema or varices, palpable hard left lobe of the liver, small right lobe span or palpable splenomegaly), and/or radiological evidence of cirrhosis (by abdominal sonography, computer assisted axial tomography, or magnetic resonance imaging, showing a nodular liver and/or portosystemic collaterals with portal vein patency and/or ascites and/or splenomegaly, and/or colloid shift on a colloid-isotope liver-spleen scan), and/or laboratory variables (platelets <100,000/mm3, albumin< 3.5g/dL, or INR >1.3)