Liver and gallbladder
Patterns of liver injury, hepatitis, steatosis, cholestasis, circulation, tumours and the biliary tree.
39 pages
Lesion
- Alcohol-associated liver diseaseHeavy drinking first fills liver cells with fat, can then inflame and kill them, and over years…
- Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency: the liverA misfolded protein gets stuck inside liver cells, harming the liver, while its absence in blood…
- Autoimmune hepatitis: plasma cells, interface injury and types 1 and 2In autoimmune hepatitis the immune system attacks the person's own liver cells; untreated it…
- Benign liver massesMost liver masses found by chance in healthy livers are harmless, such as hemangiomas and focal…
- CholangiocarcinomaCholangiocarcinoma is cancer of the bile duct lining; it grows slowly along the ducts, causes…
- Cholecystitis: acute, acalculous and chronicCholecystitis is an inflamed gallbladder, usually because a stone blocks its outlet; it can be…
- Choledochal cysts and fibropolycystic diseaseSome people are born with bile ducts that are too wide, cystic or scarred; these can block bile…
- Cirrhosis: morphologyCirrhosis is the whole liver turned into islands of regenerating cells wrapped in scar; it is…
- Congenital anomalies of the gallbladderThe gallbladder can be folded, doubled, missing or in the wrong place; most of these cause no…
- Gallbladder carcinomaGallbladder cancer grows in a gallbladder inflamed by stones for many years; it is often found…
- Gallstones: cholesterol vs pigmentGallstones form when bile has too much cholesterol or bilirubin; most cause no symptoms, but…
- Hemochromatosis: hepcidin, HFE and where iron settlesIn hemochromatosis the gut absorbs too much iron for years; the iron piles up in the liver…
- Hepatic inflow disorders: artery, portal vein, sinusoidsThe liver has two blood supplies, so blocking one rarely kills tissue; blocking flow inside the…
- Hepatic venous outflow obstructionIf blood cannot leave the liver, it swells, becomes painful and congested, and the cells near…
- Hepatoblastoma: the liver tumour of early childhoodHepatoblastoma is the most common liver cancer of small children; it is made of cells that look…
- Hepatocellular adenoma: the molecular subtypes and their risksHepatocellular adenoma is a benign liver tumour, mostly in young women on hormones; some types…
- Hepatocellular carcinomaHepatocellular carcinoma is the main primary liver cancer; it usually grows in a liver scarred…
- Large bile duct obstructionA blocked bile duct backs bile into the liver; bacteria can climb in, and years of blockage scar…
- Liver infections: bacterial, fungal and parasiticBacteria, amoebae, worms and fungi can reach the liver through bile, blood or the gut and form…
- Metabolic steatotic liver disease (MASLD, MASH)Fat builds up in the liver of people with obesity or diabetes; in some it inflames the liver and…
- Metastases to the liver: the most common liver malignancyMost cancers found in the liver come from elsewhere, especially the colon, pancreas, breast and…
- Neonatal cholestasis: biliary atresia and neonatal hepatitisA baby with jaundice beyond two weeks, pale stools and dark urine needs urgent study: blocked…
- Patterns of hepatocyte injuryA sick liver cell swells, fills with fat or bile, or dies; where in the lobule it dies points to…
- Primary biliary cholangitis: the florid duct lesion and AMAIn primary biliary cholangitis the immune system destroys the smallest bile ducts, slowly…
- Primary sclerosing cholangitisIn primary sclerosing cholangitis scar narrows the large and medium bile ducts; it is linked to…
- Rare primary liver cancersBesides the common liver cancers there are rare ones arising from vessels, mixed cell types or…
- Vanishing bile duct syndromeIn some diseases the small bile ducts inside the liver are destroyed and not replaced, so bile…
- Viral hepatitis on biopsy: acute and chronicAcute hepatitis inflames the lobule; chronic hepatitis inflames the portal tracts and their…
- Wilson diseaseIn Wilson disease the liver cannot put copper into bile, so copper builds up in the liver, then…
Topic
- Drug- and toxin-induced liver injuryBecause the liver processes most drugs, many medicines, herbs and toxins can damage it, in…
- Hepatitis B and DHepatitis B hides in liver cell nuclei; the immune attack on infected cells, not the virus…
- Hepatitis C: why it becomes chronic, and its extrahepatic diseaseHepatitis C quietly stays in the liver for decades in most people, slowly scarring it, unless it…
- Hepatitis viruses A to E: the comparison tableFive unrelated viruses inflame the liver; A and E spread through food and water, B, C and D…
- Hereditary hyperbilirubinemiasSome inherited defects of bilirubin handling cause jaundice; most are harmless, one can damage a…
- Liver disease in pregnancyThree liver disorders are tied to pregnancy; two can quickly threaten mother and baby and…
- Liver failure: acute, chronic and acute-on-chronicWhen most of the liver stops working, toxins build up, blood stops clotting, the brain clouds…
Mechanism
- Jaundice and cholestasisJaundice is yellow skin from bilirubin; it rises when too much is made, the liver cannot process…
- Liver fibrosis and its regressionLong injury turns quiet fat-storing stellate cells into scar makers; if the cause stops, part of…
- Portal hypertensionIf blood cannot pass through the liver, pressure backs up into the gut veins, causing fluid in…
A to Z
Educational content on the mechanisms of disease; not a diagnostic or treatment guide and no substitute for a health professional's advice. No doses are given.
Representative model, for educational purposes only.