the liver and its lesions Flashcards
what are portal tracts like in hepatitis C?
- filled with B lymphocytes and plasma cells (making antibodies against the virus)
- inflammation at the interface with the lobules - causing loss of hepatocytes (critical in progression from simple inflammation with hepatitis in portal tracts to persistant inflammation in lobules, persistent eroding away of hepatocytes and therefore persistent progression to fibrosis)
- bile duct damage (not common with viral hepatitis, more seen in autoimmune liver diseases) - which imitates autoimmune liver disease
- fibrosis
describe the hepatocellular parenchyma in hepatitis C
- inflammatory cells — lymphocytes damage hepatocytes
- hepatocytes full of fat - steatosis — not sure why this happens
what can cause steatosis?
excess alcohol — the combination of alcohol and hepatitis C is really really bad
you get steatosis in what type of hepatitis that you dint get in any other forms of viral hep?
C
what is it called when you cant see the boundary between the portal tract and hepatocellular lobule?
interface hepatitis
how does fibrosis lead to suboptimal liver function?
- cant see any portal tracts due to progressive fibrosis
- big thick layer bridging between portal tracts
- leads to isolation of collections of hepatocytes
- undergo hyperplasia (re growth/overgrowth of cells)
- never quite reproduce normal vascular architecture
- suboptimal liver function
what causes hepatitis and cirrhosis?
- viruses
- alcohol — hepatitis —> fatty change —> cirrhosis
- drugs — prescribed and misused
- autoimmune disease
what autoimmune diseases can cause hepatitis and cirrhosis?
primary sclerosing cholangitis, primary biliary cirrhosis, autoimmune hepatitis
—> each have a characteristic set of antibodies and therefore target within the liver
summarise hepatitis A
- infectious
- endemic
- oral-faecal transmission — hep A associated with drinking water from unclean sources
- 2-6 weeks incubation period
summarise hep B
- serum
- sporadic (small number of cases not spread by serum)
- blood-borne
- sexual transmission
- 6 weeks to 6 months incubation
- occurs in immunosuppessed
summarise hepatitis C
- transfusion related
- blood-borne transmission
- 2 weeks to 6 months incubation period
- can have it for a very long time without noticing
why is hepatitis delta different?
requires hepatitis B
what is hepatitis E similar to?
hep A
what is another name for infectious mononucleosis?
glandular fever
what virus can infectious mononucleosis be seen with, and may cause acute hepatitis?
Epstein-Barr virus
what virus can cause hepatitis and is seen in immunosuppressed pateints?
cytomegalovirus
what are the ranging presentations of viral hepatitis?
- asymptomatic subclinical disease
- acute clinical jaundice
- acute massive necrosis (<2%)
- chronic hepatitis > 6 months (esp B and C)
alcohol is absorbed from the ______, then via the _____ to the liver
- upper small intestine
- portal vein