Liver Flashcards
(149 cards)
Alcoholic liver disease overview
Damage to liver from alcohol
ALD Patho
Caused by alcohol abuse
Fatty liver
Alcohol metabolism -> fat production, cells swell with fat (steatosis)
Alcoholic hepatitis
Fatty change, inflammation
infiltration by leukocytes
hepatocyte necrosis, mallory bodies, giant mito
Alcoholic cirrhosis
Fibrosis
conversion from normal structure to abnormal nodules
irreversible
ALD Px
Fatty liver
asymptomatic
Vague abdo symptoms - N+V, diarrhoea
hepatomegaly
Alcoholic hepatitis
Jaundice
Signs of chronic liver disease (ascites, bruising, clubbing, Dupuytren’s)
Abdo pain, fever
Alcoholic cirrhosis
Signs of chronic liver disease
Features of alcohol dependency
ALD Ix
LFTs - GGT and ALP raised, AST and ALT mildly raised
FBC - thrombocytopenia, hypoglycaemia, elevated bilirubin and PTT, increased WCC, elevated MCV
Abdo USS
CT/MRI
Liver biopsy
ALD Mx
Stop drinking alcohol
Withdrawal symptoms - diazepam
IV thiamine - prevent Wernicke-Korsakoff encephalopathy (confusion, ataxia, nystagmus)
Good diet, infection prophylaxis
Liver transplant
ALD Cx
cirrhosis, liver failure, encephalopathy
Ascites overview
Free fluid in peritoneal cavity
Ascites causes
Local inflammation
Peritonitis, infection, abdo cancer, surgery
Low protein
Low albumin, loss of oncotic pressure
Hypoalbuminaemia, nephrotic syndrome, malnutrition
Low flow
Fluid cannot move through vessels, pressure raises, fluid leaks out
Cirrhosis (portal HTN), cardiac failure, constrictive pericarditis
Ascites Px
Signs Abdo swelling Fullness in flanks Shifting dullness Peripheral oedema Wt gain from water retention
Symptoms
Abdo pain (if severe, think bacterial peritonitis)
Maybe respiratory distress, difficulty eating
Ascites Ix
Abdo exam
USS/CT/MRI
Ascitic tap (WCC, culture, transudate/exudate)
Ascites Mx
Tx underlying cause
Oral spironolactone - K-sparing duiretic
Paracentesis - drain fluid
Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS)
Biliary colic overview
Pain from gallstone in CD or CBD
Gallstones Patho
Cholesterol gallstone
Large, often solitary stone
Causes - female, age, obesity
Cholesterol crystallisation - either bile salt deficiency or relative excess cholesterol
Bile pigment stones
Small Ca stones, irregular
Black - from haemolysis (sickle cell, thalassaemia) and cirrhosis
Brown - stasis and infection (Ecoli/klebsiella)
Gallstones Risk Factors
Fair, fat, fertile, female, forty
Biliary colic Px
Sudden onset pain
Severe, constant, crescendo-like (not colicky)
Mid-evening onset, last to early morn
Epigastric/RUQ
Radiation - right shoulder, right subscapular
N+V
Biliary colic Ix
Abdo USS
Biliary colic Mx
Laparoscopic cholecystectomy
Gallstone Cx
In gallbladder/CD - biliary colic, cholecystitis, empyema (GB fills with pus), carcinoma, Mirizzi’s syndrome (stone in GB presses on BD, causes jaundice)
In BDs - obstructive jaundice, cholangitis, pancreatitis
Cholecystitis overview
Gallbladder inflammation
Cholecystitis patho
Stone obstructs GB emptying, increase of GB glandular secretion, distention, GB vascular supply may be compromised
Inflammatory response secondary to bile retained in liver (maybe infection secondary to vascular and inflammatory events)
Repeated acute attacks -> chronic
Cholecystitis Px
Epigastric pain -> localised RUQ (as inflammation progresses)
Tenderness, guarding, rigidity
Inflammation - vomiting, fever, local peritonism, raised WCC
Murphy’s sign - pain on deep breath in with two fingers on RUQ (and no pain for LUQ)
Jaundice if stone moves to CBD (but not normally)
Cholecystitis Ix
Bloods - raised WCC, CRP, bilirubin, ALP, ALT/AST
Abdo USS - thick walled, shrunken bladder, stones, fluid nearby
Cholecystitis Mx
Lap chol
IV fluids, analgesia, cefuroxime/ceftriaxone
Stone dissolution - oral ursodeoxycholic acid
Shock-wave therapy
Cholangitis overview
Inflammation of bile duct system