Liver Conditions

Cirrhosis can be a life-threatening condition. It occurs when inflammation and scarring damage the liver.

Alcohol abuse and chronic viral hepatitis are the most common causes of cirrhosis. But medicines or another diseases, such as hemochromatosis, can also cause cirrhosis.

Symptoms of cirrhosis include:

• Excessive tiredness
• Excessive weight loss
• Lack of appetite
• Nausea
• Swelling in the legs and belly

If left untreated, severe cirrhosis can result in:

• Coma
• Hand tremors
• Internal bleeding
• Unclear thinking
• Yellowing of the skin and eyes, called jaundice

Treatment for cirrhosis includes addressing the underlying cause of the liver damage. Other problems, like internal bleeding resulting from liver damage, also need treatment.

In some cases, a liver transplant is the only viable treatment option.

Fatty liver disease means that you have fat deposits inside your liver. These deposits may keep your liver from doing a good job of removing toxins from your blood. People who drink too much alcohol may also have fat in their liver, but that’s not the same as fatty liver disease.

Jaundice is a condition that causes the skin or the whites of your eyes to turn yellow. It happens when you have too much "Bilirubin" in the blood stream. Bilirubin is a natural chemical found in the body after old blood products breakdown. Bilirubin is processed in the liver and turned into bile. Bile goes into your intestines to help digest your food.

Causes of jaundice

Jaundice can be caused by problems with your liver or more rarely, with a problem with you blood cells.

Problems with the gallbladder or pancreas can also cause cause jaundice. Gallstones are stones that form in the gallbladder. They can cause an obstruction or blockage in your bile ducts or tubes. These tubes drain the bile from the liver into the intestines. When you have blocked bile ducts, the bilirubin gets backed up into the blood stream. This causes those high levels of bilirubin in the blood. 

Jaundice can occur both before or after gallbladder surgery. You may need a special procedure to remove the stones that are blocking your bile ducts. 

Liver diseases that cause jaundice include:

• Hepatitis, which is inflammation of the liver caused by infection
• Heavy alcohol use causing permanent damage of the liver
• Liver damage from certain medicines, herbal supplements or illegal drugs
• Liver cancer

Gilbert’s syndrome

Gilbert’s syndrome is another cause of jaundice. It is a painless, harmless condition of the blood system. It can run in families. People with Gilbert’s syndrome sometimes get jaundice when they:

• Are under stress
• Have an infection
• Take certain medicines

Women with Gilbert’s syndrome might get jaundice around their menstrual periods.

Testing for jaundice

Your doctor will give you a blood test to measure the level of bilirubin in your blood. Your doctor might also give you tests to see what’s causing your jaundice.

Your doctor or nurse will decide which tests you need based on your unique case.

Tests doctors use to find the cause of jaundice usually include:

• An ERCP – An ERCP is a test which involves us placing a flexible tube down your throat and taking X-rays.
• Blood - A blood test can tell us if your liver is functioning correctly.
• CT scan – This is a special kind of imaging test which let's us see your liver as a 3-D image.
• Liver biopsy – A liver biopsy is a procedure in which you have tissue samples removed from the liver. They are then examined under a microscope for signs of damage or disease.
• An ultrasound – This test uses sound waves to take pictures of the organs inside your abdomen

Treatment for jaundice

Treatments for jaundice depend on the cause of the jaundice. Your doctor or nurse might recommend that you:

• Avoid certain medicines - Your care team will talk with you about the medicines you take. They'll help you know which kinds of medications to avoid.
• Get plenty of rest - Ask your doctor or nurse when it is OK to go back to work or school.
• Avoid alcohol.
• If the cause of your jaundice was gallstones, you might also need medicine or surgical care. The first step would be to have a procedure to look for gallstones in your bile ducts. If you condition is serious enough, your doctor may remove your gallbladder.

If you have Gilbert’s syndrome, you will not need to do anything extra to treat your jaundice. Gilbert’s syndrome does not cause long-term problems on its own.

Liver cancer happens when normal cells in the liver change into abnormal cells and grow out of control.

The role of the liver is to continuously filters blood that circulates through the body. It converts nutrients and drugs, absorbed from the digestive tract, into ready-to-use chemicals.

Additionally, the liver removes toxins and other chemical waste products from the blood. It readys them for excretion.

Learn more about liver cancer.

The liver is a large organ that sits in the right upper abdomen, under the rib cage. It performs many essential functions of life. Unlike the spleen, a person cannot live without a liver.

The liver is the most commonly injured organ in blunt abdominal trauma. A car/ bike/ motorcycle accident, a direct hit to the right side, or a fall onto the right side can cause liver injury. Broken ribs, which can puncture or team the liver, can also cause injury.

Ruptured or lacerated (torn) liver is an emergency as it can cause a significant amount of blood loss. If you have pain in your belly after an injury, you should go to the Emergency Room immediately. You will likely have a CT scan of the abdomen to check for liver injury.

Most liver injuries are relatively minor and heal on their own without the need for surgery.

Depending on your situation, we might hospitalize you to watch for bleeding. Any bleeding from your liver needs prompt treatment. If the bleeding does not stop on its own, you may need to have surgery to stop the bleeding. The doctor may try other methods, before surgery, to stop the bleeding. As a team, your doctor and a radiologist will inject a contrast dye into your arteries. They will watch to find the spot from which the bleeding is coming. They can then “clot off” that artery to stop the bleeding liver.

In rare cases, if the bleeding continues, the doctor will need to do surgery to stop the bleeding. This is a high-risk surgery that is generally only done in severely injured patients.

Recovery from liver injury

After your surgery, we will use a CT scan of your abdomen to watch for healing or re-bleeding. You may be in the hospital for 2 - 7 days, or more. This depends on the degree of injury to your liver, as well as other injuries that you may have.

We will request you not take part in any contact sports or activities that put you at risk. These activities include:

• Biking
• Skiing
• Snowboarding
• Skateboarding
• Horseback riding

The risk of falling and re-injuring your abdomen is too high. Your abdominal region and/or liver needs at least 8 weeks to heal. Re-injury can cause much more severe bleeding and complications than the first injury. You and your doctor will discuss when you can resume your activities after a follow-up visit.