Session 7 - Part II Flashcards
What are some of the main causes of liver failure?
Hepatits Alcohol Drugs eg Paracetamol Industrial solvents Mushroom poisoning
How does Jaundice occur?
Bilirubin (A bile pigment from haemoglobin breakdown) is usually conjugated in the liver. If the liver is damaged it cannot conjugate the bilirubin to excrete it, it will build up in the blood leading to jaundice
Where is Insulin broken down?
In the Liver
What is Albumin essential for?
Maintaining oncotic pressure in the blood
What coagulation factors does the liver produce?
I - Fribrinogen
II - Prothrombin
Others too
What is Thrombopoietin?
A glycoprotein hormone that regulates the production of platelets by bone marrow
What does ALT/AST in the blood suggest?
Hepatocellular damage because ruptured membranes leak aminotransferases into the blood stream
What has an increased concentration in the blood of a patient with Cholestasis (Bile ducts)
Bilirubin – Unable to excrete bilirubin, plasma concentration rises
Alkaline Phosphatase – Enzyme in cells lining the liver’s biliary ducts. Plasma levels rise with an obstruction.
How can you measure synthetic functioning of the Liver?
Albumin – Levels reduced in chronic liver disease Prothrombin time (Clotting) – Measures the clotting tendency of blood (Longer would be less prothrombin)
Where do you get yellowing in jaundice?
Skin
Scleae of eyes
Conjunctival membranes of eyes
At what concentration is jaundice detectable?
> 40micromol/L (Normal range <22micromol/L)
What is pre-heaptic jaundice?
Excessive Bilirubin Production, usually due to an increased breakdown of red blood cells (haemolysis) so the Liver unable to cope with excess bilirubin
What are the lab findings in pre-hepatic jaundice?
Unconjugated hyperbilirubinaemia
Anaemia
Increased LDH
What are some of the inherited causes of pre-hepatic jaundice?
Red cell membrane defects
Haemoglobin abnormalities
Gilbert’s syndrome (Congenital Hyperbilirubinaemias)
What are some of the aquired causes of pre-hepatic jaundice?
Immune
Infections
Drugs
Define hepatic jaundice
Reduced capacity of liver cells to secrete conjugated bilirubin into the blood