What is liver hepatosis?
Hepatosis is a common name that combines several liver pathologies at once, occurring with degenerative changes in the parenchymal tissue without an obvious mesenchymal cell reaction. There are acute and chronic forms of the disease.
Causes of liver hepatosis
Acute hepatosis occurs with toxic damage to the organ. It can be poisoning with fluorine, arsenic, the characteristic symptoms of acute hepatosis also appear after taking high doses of alcohol, with an overdose of drugs, and the use of poisonous mushrooms. Sometimes acute liver dystrophy becomes a complication of viral hepatitis or sepsis.
Hepatosis in the chronic form in most cases is the result of prolonged use of alcoholic beverages, the cause of hepatosis of the liver can also be a deficiency of protein or vitamins, the action of bacterial toxins, carbon tetrachloride, organophosphorus compounds and a number of other agents that have a hepatotropic effect.
Violation of metabolic processes in the body entails a violation of metabolism in the liver. At the same time, the pathogenesis of the disease consists in a violation of lipid metabolism and is reflected in the formation of lipoproteins in liver cells.
A number of exogenous substances, including drugs (chlorpromazine, testosterone preparations, gestagens), with prolonged uncontrolled use, can cause cholestatic hepatosis.
If the liver is damaged in this case, there is a violation of the metabolism of cholesterol and bile acids in the liver cells, the process of formation of bile, its outflow through the ducts is also disrupted. With the progression of the symptoms of the disease, not only the impact of the harmful factor on hepatocytes, but also the toxic-allergic factor is of great importance.
Symptoms of liver hepatosis
Symptoms of hepatosis of the liver in acute form develop rapidly. Pathology manifests itself in the form of dyspepsia and is accompanied by signs of severe intoxication, jaundice. At the initial stage of the disease, the liver slightly increases in size, it is soft when palpated, with time the percussion dimensions of the organ become smaller, and palpation becomes impossible.
When conducting a laboratory study of blood tests, a high concentration of aminotransferases, in particular alanine aminotransferase, fructose-1-phosphate aldolase, and urocaninase, is noted. In severe cases of the disease, there is a low level of potassium in the blood, an increase in ESR. The change in liver tests does not always occur and is not natural.
Chronic fatty hepatosis is accompanied by dyspeptic disorders, loss of strength, dull pain in the right hypochondrium. The liver is slightly enlarged, its surface is smooth, the patient notes pain on palpation; unlike cirrhosis, the liver does not have a dense consistency and a sharp edge.
A frequent companion of hepatitis and cirrhosis – splenomegaly – is not typical for fatty hepatosis. The concentration of aminotransferases in the blood in this disease is slightly higher than normal, often there may be a high level of cholesterol and B-lipoproteins. The results of bromsulfalein and vofaverdin tests have their own specifics. There is often a delay in the excretion of these drugs by the liver. When making a diagnosis, a puncture biopsy of the liver plays a decisive role.
Cholestatic hepatosis of the liver can occur in acute or chronic form. The main symptoms of liver hepatosis in this case include cholestasis syndrome. It is characterized by jaundice, itching, staining of urine in a dark color, discoloration of feces, fever. When conducting laboratory tests, bilirubinemia, high activity of alkaline phosphatase and leucine aminopeptidase in the blood, high cholesterol and high ESR values are noted.
Acute fatty hepatosis occurs with symptoms of liver failure in severe form and can cause the patient’s death from hepatic coma or secondary hemorrhagic phenomena. With a more favorable outcome, the pathology becomes chronic if the etiological factor that caused the disease continues to act on the human body.
The course of chronic fatty hepatosis is more favorable. Very often, recovery occurs, especially if the effect of the damaging agent is eliminated and therapy is carried out in a timely manner. Fatty hepatosis of the liver under adverse circumstances can turn into chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis of the liver. Cholestatic hepatosis relatively quickly transforms into hepatitis due to the reaction of the reticulohistiocytic stroma of the liver and the development of secondary cholangitis.
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