Why does a patient with advanced cirrhosis often experience decreased blood pressure despite increased cardiac output?

💡 Explanation

In advanced cirrhosis, increased nitric oxide production leads to systemic vasodilation, which lowers blood pressure, because the vasodilation effect overrides the increase in cardiac output. Therefore, the vasodilation from nitric oxide is the primary driver, rather than vasoconstriction or the renin-angiotensin system.

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