Aetiology Flashcards
What is jaundice caused by?
Increased amounts of bilirubin in the blood and tissues.
What is jaundice?
Yellowness of the skin and sclera.
What is the normal pathway of bilirubin?
It is a breakdown product of haemoglobin and is normally excreted by the liver into bile.
What causes haemolysis?
Sepsis or autoimmune diease.
What are the three types of jaundice?
Pre-hepatic, hepatic and post-hepatic
What is the cause of pre-hepatic jaundice?
Abnormal haemolysis and bilirubin metabolism.
What are the causes of hepatic jaundice?
Viral hepatitis, drugs, alcohol, cirrhosis, pregnancy
What is liver cirrhosis?
Replacement of liver tissue by fibrosis and regenerative nodules; loss of architecture.
What are the causes of post-hepatic jaundice?
Cholangiocarcinoma, gall stones, pancreatic cancer.
Why does pregnancy cause acute liver disease?
Acute fatty liver leads to inflammation and means induction of premature parturition
What is chronic liver disease?
Caused by repeated episodes of acute liver injury; may arise insidiously from chronic, continuous, low-grade damage.
What are the complications of cirrhosis?
Can lead to death from untreated portal hypertension, hepatocellular carcinoma and liver failure
What is portal hypertension? How does it cause death? How is it treated?
A manifestation of advanced liver fibrosis. Causes death from bleeding varices (dilated blood vessels in oesophagus/stomach that rupture). It is treated by endoscopic band ligation or TIPSS (trans-jugular intrahepatic-portosystemic shunt) and prophylactically with B-blockers
