Block 1: Pancreas, Hepatobiliary, and Liver Disorders Flashcards
What are the functions of the liver?
- Produces bule
- Synthesizes plasma proteins
- Metabolize and eliminates drugs and toxins
- Stores vitamin, glucose, and blood
What is hepatomegaly?
Abnormally enlarged liver
Where is the liver located?
right upper quadrant
What are the structural units that contain hepatocytes?
Liver lobule
What are hepatocytes?
Specialized cells of liver that produce enzymes that catalyze various chemical reactions
What are sinusoids?
Capillaries of liver lobule located between hepatocytes, receives blood from hepatic artery and portal vein and remove foreign materials from blood
Why does hepatic differ from standard blood supply?
75% from vein
25% from artery
What is the difference between hepatic artery and vein?
Artery: brings oxygen rich blood from abdominal aorta
Vein: Brings nutrient rich blood from digestive system
What are the types of hepatic portal vein?
- Superior mesenteric: brings blood from small intestine, ascending and transverse of large intestine and stomach
- Splenic vein: brings blood from spleen and pancrease
- Inferior mesenteric vein: collects blood from descending region of large intestine and rectum
- Central vein: move blood out of liver to heart
What are the Kupffer cells?
Phagocytic cells lining sinusoids that remove bacterial and foreign materials from blood
What clotting factors are synthesized by the liver?
I, II, VII, IX, X
What proteins are synthesized by the liver?
Albumin, globulin
What is bile?
Yellow-green thick fluid that breaks fat into small globules
What is bilirubin?
Brownish-yellow substance produced when liver breaks down red blood cells
What is biliverdin?
Pigment that gives bile its greenish color
Where does bile go once leaving the hepatic duct?
- Stored and concentrated in gallbladder
- Released via common bile duct to duodenum
What hormone produces bile?
Secretin from the duodenum
What is the process of excretion?
Bilirubin secreted and transported to feces
Liver breakdowns and detoxifies substances
What are the downside of hepatic detox?
Damages to hepatocytes
What is checked in a liver function test?
- Albumin
- Bilirubin
- AST
- ALT
- GGT
- Prothrombin
What happens when liver damage prevent albumin production?
- Causes body fluid leaks to interstitial spaces and peritoneal cavity
- Caused by edema, ascites
What happens when liver damage prevent ammonia conversion?
Ammoniamo accumulates → systemic damage
How do we test for liver disorders?
Bilirubin levels: Indicator of liver and pancreatic dysfunction
Elevated pancreatic pancreatic amylase and lipase
What is jaundice?
Yellowish discoloration of whites of eyes, skin, or mucous membranes caused by bile salts in tissues
What gives feces its dark color?
Bilirubin
What is amylase?
Breaks down starch to disaccharides
What is lipase?
Fat digestion to produce fatty acids and glycerol from triglycerides
What causes jaundice in newborns?
Takes several days to produce enzyme needed for conjugation of bilirubin (glucoronyltransferase)
What is cause of cirrhosis?
- Alcohol consumption → alcoholic liver disease → alcoholic hepatitis → hepatocellular damage, inflammation, obstruction → damages in hepatocytes and surrounding tissue
- Replacement of hepatocytes with scar tissue
- Constriction of blood and bile flow
- Enlarged spleen damages → leukopenia, anemia, thrombocytopenia
Cirrhosis rates are higher in ___?
Males
What is a fatty liver?
Alcohol catalyzes enzymes → enzymes make fatty acids → fatty acid accumulates in liver as fat → steatosis (early stage)
What system is used by the liver when consuming large amounts of alcohol?
Microsomal ethanol-oxidizing system → fatty deposits and TG
What are causes of liver blood flow constriction?
Portal hypertension forces blood out of the liver→ shunts blood to spleen → splenomegaly
How does ascites from portal HTN cause dyspnea?
- Increased abdominal fluid place pressure on diaphragm
- Difficulty breathing
- Swollen abdomen
What are the factors that increase the severity of cirrhosis?
- Pattern of drinking
- Amount of alcohol
- Number of years drinking
- Liver damaging
How can you fix progression of cirrhosis from alcohol?
Elimination of alcohol can repair damages
What leads to irreversible liver damage from alcohol?
Liver shrinks and takes on nodular appearance → liver failure that is irreversible
What delays liver damage diagnosis?
- Vascular and regenerative capacities of liver
- Deep location of liver in abdominal cavity
What are the sx in patients with steatosis?
1, Asymptomatic
2. Elevated LFT
3. Palpitation
4. RUQ discomfort
Continual drinkers may experience what kind of sx?
- N/W
- Anorexia
- Weight loss
- Jaundice and icterus
What are the labs associated with metabolic liver disease?
Damage to hepatocytes
Prolonged prothrombin time
Portal HTN shifts fluids to body compartment
How can hypoalbumnemia and hyperaldosteronism contribute to ascites?
Hypoalbumnemia: loss of colloid osmotic pressure
Hyperaldosteronism: retention of sodium and water to elevate blood pressure
Sx of increased cerebral edema?
- Confusion
- Disorientation
- Decreased cognition
What builds up do to dysfunctional liver metabolism?
Ammonia and unmetabolized medications → toxicity