Gastrointestinal system Flashcards
What is the stepwise progression of alcoholic liver disease?
- Alcohol related fatty liver (build up of fat in liver - reversible in 2 weeks)
- Alcoholic hepatitis (inflammation of liver - mild is reversible)
- Cirrhosis (scar tissue formation - irreversible)
What is the recommended daily alcohol consumption?
14 units per week / 3 days (pregnant avoid completely)
What are the CAGE questions to assess harmful alcohol use?
CUT DOWN ? Ever thought you should
ANNOYED? Annoyed at others comments?
GUILTY?
EYE OPENER?
What is the AUDIT questionnaire?
Developed by the WHO to screen for people with harmful alcohol use - 10 questions (8 indicates harmful)
What are some complications of alcohol dependency?
Alcoholic liver disease
Cirrosis (and hepatocellular carcinoma)
Alcohol dependence and withdrawal
Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome
Pancreatitis
Alcoholic cardiomyopathy
What are some signs of liver disease?
Jaundice
Hepatomegaly
Spider Naevi
Palmar Erythema
Bruising due to abnormal clotting
Ascites
Capus medusae (engorged superficial epigastric veins)
Asterixis - “flapping tremor” in decompensated liver disease
What blood tests can be used to assess alcoholic liver disease?
FBC - raised MCV
LFTs - elevated ALT and AST and gamma-GT low albumin due to reduced synthetic function of liver (ALP raised later in disease)
Low albumin (reduced synthetic function)
Clotting - elevated PT
U&Es may be deranged in hepatorenal syndrome
What imaging can be used for alcoholic liver disease?
Ultrasound - showing fatty changes
Fibroscan - assessing degree of cirrhosis
Endoscopy - for oesophageal varices
CT/MRI - carcinoma, hepatosplenomegaly, ascites
Liver biopsy
What is the general management of alcoholic liver disease?
Stop drinking (detox regime)
Nutritional support with vitamins (particularily thiamine)
Treat complications of cirrhosis (portal hypertension, varices, ascites and hepatic encephalopathy)
Referral for liver transplant (must abstain from alcohol for 3 months)
What are some symptoms of alcohol withdrawal?
6-12 hrs: Tremor, sweating, headache, anxiety
12-24 hrs: Hallucinations
24-48 hrs: Seizures
24-72 hrs: Delerium Tremens
What is delerium tremens, what happens?
Due to alcohol withdrawal (mortality 35% if untreated)
Alcohol stimulates GABA receptors in brain - relaxing it along with inhibiting glutamate
When alcohol is removed, to compensate long term alcohol use GABA underfunctions and glutamate overfunctions - causing extreme excitability in the brain
How does delerium tremens present?
- Acute confusion
- Severe agitation
- Delusions and hallucinations
- Tremor
- Tachycardia
- HTN
- Hypertension
- Hyperthermia
- Ataxia (difficulty with coordination)
- Arrhythmias
What should be given to manage alcohol withdrawal?
Chlordiazepoxide (benzo)
IV pabrinex (vit Bs) followed by low dose oral thiamine
What vitamin deficiency do alcoholics typically have ?
B1 (thiamine)
What can happen as a result of thiamine deficiency?
Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome (Wernicke’s first)
How does Wernicke’s encephalopathy present?
- Confusion
- Oculomotor disturbances
- Ataxia (no coordinated movements)
What are some features of Korsakoff’s syndrome?
- Memory impairment
- Behavioural changes
Is Korsakoff’s syndrome reversible?
No (require full time institutional care after)
What are the 4 most common causes of cirrhosis?
Alcoholic liver disease
Non-alcoholic liver disease
Hep B
Hep C
What are some rarer causes of cirrhosis?
- Autoimmune hepatits
- Primary biliary cirrhosis
- Haemochromatosis
- Wilsons disease
- Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency
- CF
- Drugs (e.g. amiodarone, methotrexate, sodium valporate)
What are some signs of cirrhosis?
- Jaundice
- Hepatomegaly (liver then shrinks)
- Splenomegaly (due to portal hypertensio)
- Spider Naevi
- Palmar erythema
- Gynecomastia and testicular atrophy due to endocrine dysfunction
- Bruising (abnormal clotting)
- Ascites
- Caput medusae
- Asterixis - ‘flapping tremor’
What are the blood results for cirrhosis?
- LFTs often normal (unless decompensated cirrhosis then ALT, AST, ALP and bilirubin becomes deranged - all the markers)
- Albumin drops and PT time increases for synthetic function
- Hyponatraemia indicates fluid retention
- Urea and creatinin become deranged in hepatorenal syndrome
- AFP for hepatocellular carcinoma
What is the first line investigation for patients with potential non-alcoholic fatty liver disease?
Enhanced liver fibrosis (can’t be used for cirrhosis of other causes)
What is the imaging for cirrhosis? What are you looking for?
Ultrasound (nodularity of the surface, corkscrew arteries, enlarged portal vein, ascites, splenomegaly)
Fibroscan (look at elasticity of liver)
Endoscopy (look for and treat oesophageal varices)
CT and MRI (hepatocellular carcinoma, hepatosplenomegaly, abnormal blood vessels)
Liver biopsy (to confirm diagnosis of cirrhosis)
What is used as a screening tool for hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with cirrhosis?
Ultrasound every 6 months
Who is at risk of cirrhosis and thus needs a fibroscan every 2 years?
- Hep B/C
- Heavy drinkers
- Diagnosed ALD
- Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
What scoring system is used for cirrhosis?
Child-Pugh score
What does the MELD score tell you? When is it used?
Estimated 3 month mortality, helping guide referral for liver transplant
Used every 6 month in patients with compensated cirrhosis
What is the general management for cirrhosis?
Ultrasound and AFP every 6 months for HC carcinoma
Endoscopy every 3 years for varices
High protein, low sodium diet
MELD score every 6 months
What are some complications of cirrhosis?
- Malnutrition
- Portal hypertension, varices
- Ascites
- Hepato-renal syndrome
- Hepatic Encephalopathy
- Hepatocellular carcinoma
How can malnutrition caused by alcoholism be treated?
Regular meals (every 2-3 hours)
Low sodium (minimise fluid retention)
High protein and high calorie diet
What combines to form the portal vein?
Superior mesenteric vein and splenic vein
Where does the portal system anastamose with the systemic venous system (where varices occur)?
Gastro-oesophageal junction
Ileocaecal junction
Rectum
Anterior abdo wall (caput medusae)
What does exsanguinate mean? When can it happen?
Bleed out
Bleeding oesophageal varices
How are stable varices treated?
Propanolol
Elastic band ligation of varices
Injection of sclerosant
What is TIPS used for? How does it work?
Transjugular intra-hepatic portosystemic shunt (wire into jugular vein, vena cava and into liver via hepatic vein)
If other treatment of stable varices fails
Connection made between hepatic vein and portal vein
What does TIPS stand for?
Transjugular intra-hepatic porto-systemic shunt
What is used for treatment of bleeding oesophageal varices?
- Terlipressin (vasopressin anologue) cause vasoconstriction
- Vit K and FFP
- Broad spectrum Abx
- Intubation and intensive care
What intervention can be used for bleeding varices?
Injecting sclerosant into varices (during endoscopy)
Elastic band ligation
Sengstaken-Blakemore Tube is an inflatable tube inserted into oesophagus to tamponade bleeding (after endoscopy fails)
What causes ascites?
Increased pressure in porto-systemic system
Why is ascites aggrevated?
Kidneys sense a lower circulating volume and so secrete renin
What type of ascites is caused by cirrhosis? How is ascites managed?
Transudate (low protein)
- Low sodium diet
- Anti-aldosterone diuretic (spironolactone)
- Paracentesis (ascites tap/drain)
- TIPS in refractory ascites
When can spontaneous bacterial peritonitis occur?
Spontaneous infection in ascitic fluid (10% of patients with ascites)
How does spontaneous bacterial peritonitis present?
- Fever
- Abdo pain
- Deranged bloods (raised WBC, CRP, creatinine)
- Ileus
- Hypotension
Can be asymptomatic
What are the most common organisms for SBP?
E. Coli
Klebsiella
Gram positive cocci (staph/enterococcus)
How is SBP managed?
Ascitic culture
- IV cefotaxime (cephalosporin)
What causes hepatorenal syndrome? Is it fatal?
In liver cirrhosis blood pools in the portal venous system (due to dilatation), causing hypotension in the kidney and activation of RAAS and vasoconstiction in kidney and then failure
Fatal within a week without liver transplant
What toxin builds up in liver cirrhosis causing hepatic encephalopathy?
Ammonia
Why does ammonia build up in cirrhosis?
Functional impairment of the liver cells prevent metabolism of ammonia
Also shunting of blood to the systemic circulation means that blood isnt filtered
What can precipitate hepatic encephalopathy?
Constipation
Electrolyte disturbance
Infection
GI bleed
High protein diet
Medications (particularly sedative)
How is hepatic encephalopathy managed?
Laxatives e.g. lactulose promotes excretion of ammonia
Antibiotics (i.e. rifaximin - poorly absorbed, stays in GI tract) reducing number of intestinal bacteria producing ammonia
Nutritional support
What are the stages of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease?
- Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
- Non-alcoholic steatohepatits
- Fibrosis
- Cirrhosis
What are the risk factors for NAFLD?
- Obesity
- Poor diet / low activity levels
- Type 2 diabetes
- High cholesterol
- Middle age onwards
- Smoking
- High blood pressure
When a patient presents with abnormal LFTs without a clear underlying cause what can be used?
Non-invasive liver screen
What forms the non-invasive liver screen?
Ultrasound Liver
Hepatitis B and C serology
Autoantibodies (autoimmune hepatitis, primary biliary cirrhosis and primary sclerosing cholangitis)
Immunoglobulins (autoimmune hepatitis and primary biliary cirrhosis)
Caeruloplasmin (Wilsons disease)
Alpha 1 Anti-trypsin levels (alpha 1 anti-trypsin deficiency)
Ferritin and Transferrin Saturation (hereditary haemochromatosis)
What are some liver autoantibodies?
Antinuclear antibody (ANA)
Smooth muscle antibody (SMA)
Antimitochondrial antibody (AMA)
What can be used to diagnose fatty liver?
Liver ultrasound (doesnt indicate severity/if fibrosis)
What can be used to assess fibrosis?
Enhanced liver fibrosis blood test
What is the second line assessment for liver fibrosis?
NAFLD fibrosis score (algorithm of age, liver enzymes, platelets, albumin)
What is the third line investigation for fibrosis?
Fibroscan (type of ultrasound)
What is the management of NAFLD?
- Weight loss
- Exercise
- Stop smoking
- Control diabetes, blood pressure, cholesterol
- Avoid alcohol
Refer patients with liver fibrosis to a liver specialist where they may treat with vitamin E or pioglitazone
What is hepatitis?
Inflammation of the liver
What are some causes of hepatitis?
- Alcoholic hepatitis
- NAFLD
- Viral hepatitis
- Autoimmune hepatitis
- Drug induced hepatitis (e.g. paracetamol overdose)
How does hepatitis present?
- Abdo pain
- Fatigue
- Pruritis (itching)
- Muscle and joint aches
- Nausea and vomiting
- Jaundice
- Fever (viral hepatitis)
How are the LFTs in hepatitis?
High AST/ALT proportionally less of a rise of ALP = “hepatic picture”
Is hep A common in the UK?
No ~1000 cases in 2017 (most common viral hepatitis worldwide)
How is Hep A transmitted?
Faecal-oral route
How does Hep A present?
Nausea
Vomiting
Anorexia
Jaundice
Cholestasis (dark urine / pale stools)
Does Hep A resolve?
Yes, without treatment in 1-3 months
How is hep A managed?
Basic analgesia
Is there a vaccination for Hep A?
Yes
Is Hep A a notifiable disease?
Yes
What kind of virus is Hep A?
RNA virus
What kind of virus is Hep B?
DNA virus
How is hep B transmitted?
Blood / bodily fluids
Sex, IVDU, mother to child
What percentage of people go on to get chronic hepatitis after Hep B infection?
10%
What do the following markers mean:
Surface antigen (HBsAg)
E antigen (HBeAg)
Core antibodies (HBcAb)
Surface antibody (HBsAb)
Hepatitis B virus DNA (HBV DNA)
Surface antigen (HBsAg) – active infection
E antigen (HBeAg) – marker of viral replication and implies high infectivity
Core antibodies (HBcAb) – implies past or current infection
Surface antibody (HBsAb) – implies vaccination or past or current infection
Hepatitis B virus DNA (HBV DNA) – this is a direct count of the viral load
For HBcAb how is past or current infection distinguished?
IgM and IgG is measured
IgM implies active infection
IgG indicates a past infection when HBsAg is negative
Is vaccination available for hep B?
Yes - injecting the hep B surface antigen
How is Hep B managed?
- Screen for other BBV and STIs (hep A, B and HIV)
- Refer to gastro, hepatology / infectious diseases
- Notify Public Health
- Educate about transmission
- Test for complications: fibroscan for cirrhosis and ultrasound for hepatocellular carcinoma
What kind of virus is Hep C?
RNA
Is there a cure for Hep C?
Yes (no vaccine)