Abdomen Flashcards
(87 cards)
Name some clinical signs of chronic liver disease
- General: cachexia, icterus (also in acute), excoriation and bruising
- Hands: leuconychia, clubbing, Dupuytren’s contractures and palmar erythema
- Face: xanthelasma, parotid swelling and fetor hepaticus
- Chest and abdomen: spider naevi and caput medusa, reduced body hair, gynaecomastia and testicular atrophy (in males)
What are the signs of hepatomegaly?
Palpation and percussion:
- Mass in RUQ that moves with respiration, that you are not able to get above and is dull to percussion
- Estimate size (finger breadths below the diaphragm)
- Smooth or craggy/nodular (malignancy/cirrhosis)
- Pulsatile (TR in CCF)
Auscultation:
- Bruit over liver (hepatocellular carcinoma)
What features in examination may suggest an underlying cause of hepatomegaly?
- Tattoos and needle marks - infectious hepatitis
- Slate-grey pigmentation - haemochromatosis
- Cachexia - Malignancy
- Mid-line sternotomy scar - CCF
What are the signs of acute decompensation of liver disease?
- Ascites: shifting dullness
- Asterixis: ‘liver flap’
- Altered consciousness: encephalopathy
What are the causes of hepatomegaly?
Cirrhosis (alcoholic)
Carcinoma (secondaries)
Congestive Cardiac Failure
Infectious (HBV and HCV)
Immune (PBC, PSC and AIH)
Infiltrative (amyloid and myeloproliferative disorders)
What investigations would you want in a patient with suspected hepatomegaly?
- Bloods: FBC, U&S, LFTs, glucose, Coag
- AUSS
- Tap ascites (if present)
What investigations would you want in a patient with suspected cirrhosis?
Liver screen bloods including:
- Autoantibodies and immunoglobulins (PBC, PSC and AIH)
- Hep B and C serology
- Ferritin (haemochromatosis)
- Caeruloplasmin (Wilson’s Disease)
- Alpha-1 anti-trypsin
- AFP (HCC)
Hepatic synthetic function:
- INR (acute)
- Albumin (chronic)
Liver Biopsy (diagnosis and staging)
ERCP (diagnose/exclude PSC)
What investigations would you carry out if you were suspecting a malignancy in liver?
- Imaging: CXR and CT abdomen/chest
- Colonoscopy/Gastroscopy
-Biopsy
What complications can arise as a result of cirrhosis?
- Variceal haemorrhage due to portal hypertension
- Hepatic encephalopathy
- Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis
Describe Childs-Pugh classification of cirrhosis.
Prognostic score based on bilirubin/albumin/INR/ascites/encephalopathy
Score 5-6 - 100% 1 year survival
Score 7-9 - 81% 1 year survival
Score 10-15 45% 1 year survival
What are the causes of ascites?
Cirrhosis (80%)
Carcinomatosis
CCF
How is ascites treated in cirrhosis?
- Abstinence from alcohol
- Salt restriction
- Diuretics (aim 1kg weight loss/day)
- Liver transplantation
Name the causes of palmar erythema
- Cirrhosis
- Hyperthyroidism
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Pregnancy
- Polycythaemia
What are the causes of gynaecomastia?
- Physiological: puberty and senility
- Kleinfelter’s syndrome
- Cirrhosis
- Drugs e.g. spironolactone and digoxin
- Testicular tumour/orchiectomy
- Endocrinopathy e.g. hyper/hypothyroidism and Addison’s
What autoantibodies are involved in Liver Disease?
- PBC: anti-mitochrondrial antibody (M2 subtype) in 98%, increased IgM
- PSC: ANA, anti-smooth muscle antibody may be positive
- AIH: anti-smooth muscle, anti-liver/kidney microsomal type 1 (LKM1) and occasionally ANA may be positive.
What are the clinical signs of haemochromatosis?
- Increased skin pigmentation (slate-grey colour)
- Stigmata of chronic liver disease
- Hepatomegaly
What scars could be seen in a patient with haemochromatosis?
- Venesection
- Liver biopsy
- Joint replacement
- Abdominal rooftop incision (hemihepatectomy for HCC)
What can be found on examination to suggest complications as a result of Haemochromatosis?
- Endocrine: ‘bronze diabetes’ (e.g. injection sites), hypogonadism and testicular atrophy
- Cardiac: congestive cardiac failure
- Joints: arthropathy (pseudo-gout)
What is the mode of inheritance of haemochromatosis?
- Autosomal recessive on chromosome 6
- HFE gene mutation: regulator of gut iron absorption
- Homozygous prevalence 1:300, carrier rate 1:10
- Males affected at an earlier age than females - protected by menstrual cycle iron losses
How would a patient with haemochromatosis present?
- Fatigue and arthritis
- Chronic liver disease
- Incidental diagnosis or family screening
What investigation findings would be in-keeping with haemochromatosis?
- Raised serum ferritin
- Raised transferrin saturations
- Liver biopsy in keeping
- Genotyping
Aside from ferritin, transferrin sats, liver biopsy and genotyping, what other investigations would you request in a patient with suspected haemochromatosis?
- Blood glucose: to check for coinciding diabetes
- ECG, CXR, Echo: to check for evidence of cardiac failure
- Liver ultrasound and alpha-fetoprotein: to check for evidence of HCC
How would you treat a patient with suspected Haemochromatosis?
- Regular venesection (1 unit/week) until iron deficient, then venesect 1 unit, 3-4 times/year
- Avoid alcohol
- Surveillance for HCC
How would you screen family members for Haemochromatosis?
- Iron studies (ferritin and TSAT)
If positive:
- Liver biopsy
- Genotype analysis