Hepatitis can be acute, meaning sudden and short term, or chronic, meaning long-term and persistent. A liver abscess is a pocket of infected fluid, or pus , that forms in the liver. Infection from certain germs, such as bacteria, parasites, or fungus, can cause the abscess.
An abscess can damage nearby tissue, it can lead to bleeding, additional infections, and even death. Treatment may include an antibiotic or antifungal medicine, and the abscess may be drained. Follow-up imaging tests of the liver are normally conducted to ensure the abscess is gone and that there is no permanent damage.
Cirrhosis is an irreversible scarring of the liver. The liver slowly gets worse and becomes unable to work properly due to long-lasting injury. Over time, scar tissue replaces healthy liver tissue, and this can begin to block the flow of blood through the liver.
A healthy liver can regenerate its damaged cells. If the damage is too severe or long-lasting, the liver cannot completely repair itself, and it creates scar tissue instead. Cirrhosis happens gradually, but as it gets worse, the liver will begin to fail. This can lead to chronic liver failure or end-stage liver disease where the liver can no longer perform vital functions. The buildup of blood causes an increase in blood pressure in the portal vein.
This is the vein responsible for carrying blood to the liver from the intestines. This increase in pressure is known as portal hypertension. Portal hypertension causes fluid to build up in the abdomen. The blocked veins cause the blood flow from the liver to the heart to slow down or stop. People whose blood is most likely to clot are also more at risk of Budd-Chiari syndrome. This includes pregnant women and those with a tumor, a chronic inflammatory disease, a clotting disorder, or an infection.
This content does not have an Arabic version. Overview Enlarged liver Open pop-up dialog box Close. Enlarged liver An enlarged liver can have many possible causes. Request an Appointment at Mayo Clinic. Share on: Facebook Twitter. Show references Hammer GD, et al. Liver disease. New York, N. Accessed Feb. Curry MP, et al. Some of these include:. While many gastrointestinal issues can be a bit ambiguous and could mean many things, several of these symptoms point directly to liver problems, especially jaundice, pale stools , and a distended stomach.
If you have liver or abdominal pain along with any of these symptoms, you should see your physician immediately. Any type of liver pain is likely going to be linked to a type of liver disease. Keep in mind that the liver can recover tremendously from many different types of conditions. The most common cause is simply excessive alcohol consumption, which is a nonspecific description of liver irritation and disease. This could describe fatty liver or high liver enzymes both of which a patient can recover from following alcohol cessation or other liver problems.
This does describe cirrhosis, which is scarring of the liver. While alcohol is the number one reason for cirrhosis, this condition is an irreversible and deadly liver disease that the liver cannot recover from, even after ethanol cessation. Just as in other areas of the body, an abscess can form in the liver. An abscess, which is a fluid-filled pocket of pus, may contain parasites, bacteria, or some other type of infection. Imaging tests would be conducted in order to diagnose a liver abscess, likely after blood tests were taken.
Most often, liver disease is first noted by high liver enzymes found during complete blood count CBC tests or other types of lab tests.
Just like in other parts of the body, the treatment for most abscesses would be antibiotics. Budd-Chiari syndrome is a rare liver disease entirely unrelated to alcohol. Pregnant women and those with chronic inflammatory disease are more at risk, but it remains a rare disease.
In this syndrome, blood flow is cut off to the liver by blood clots, which causes blood to back up into the liver. If undetected, this could even cause scarring and cirrhosis.
However, if discovered, blood thinners can help alleviate the problem. Hepatitis is often associated with being a sexually transmitted disease STD , but there are many types of hepatitis, all of which inflames the liver. Hepatitis C is the type that is often transmitted through needles or bodily fluids. Find out the causes and symptoms of PLA and how it's…. Liver function tests help screen for problems such as infections, scarring, and disorders.
They're also used if you start experiencing symptoms of a…. A liver hemangioma is a tangled network of blood vessels in or on the surface of the liver. Cancer that has metastasized from the liver to another organ is much different from primary liver cancer. Learn what to expect from this diagnosis.
Hepatitis refers to an inflammatory condition of the liver. It's commonly caused by a viral infection, but there are other possible causes of….
A liver metastasis is a cancerous tumor that has spread to the liver from another place in the body. It is also called secondary liver cancer. Health Conditions Discover Plan Connect. Liver Pain. Medically reviewed by Stacy Sampson, D. Liver pain can also feel like a stabbing sensation that takes your breath away. Possible causes. Commonly linked symptoms.
0コメント