Glossary of Relevant Terms

Liver: An organ in the upper abdomen that aids in digestion and removes waste products and worn-out cells from the blood. The liver is the largest solid organ in the body. The liver weighs about 1.6 kilograms.

Liver biopsy: A procedure in which a small sample of the liver is removed for the diagnosis of abnormal liver conditions.

Liver cancer, adult primary: A tumor in which the cancer starts during adulthood in cells in the liver. Also called hepatocellular carcinoma. Primary liver cancer is different from cancer that has metastasized (spread) from another place in the body to the liver.

Childhood liver cancer: Primary cancer of the liver (cancer that starts in the liver) in children, a relatively rare malignancy in children

Liver disease: Liver disease refers to any disorder of the liver. The liver is a large organ in the upper right abdomen that aids in digestion and removes waste products from the blood. Liver disease includes the following conditions: Cirrhosis, or scarring of the liver, inflammation (hepatitis) from infectious (hepatitis B, hepatitis C) or non-infectious causes (chemical or autoimmune hepatitis), tumors, benign and malignant (liver cancer) or metabolic disorders

Fasciola hepatica: A parasite called the liver fluke which causes Fascioliasis or "liver rot" in ruminants and many other mammals, including people.

Liver of pregnancy, acute fatty: Liver failure in late pregnancy, usually from unknown cause. Acute fatty liver of pregnancy (AFLP) typically occurs in first-time pregnancies in the last trimester. AFLP causes nausea and vomiting, abdominal pain especially in the upper abdomen (epigastrium), jaundice (yellowing), frequent thirst (polydipsia) and increased urination (polyuria), fatigue, headache, and altered mental state

Liver shunt: Transjugular, intrahepatic, portosystemic shunt (TIPS), is a shunt (tube) placed between the portal vein which carries blood from the intestines to the liver and the hepatic vein which carries blood from the liver back to the heart.

Liver spot: A pigmented flat spot on sun-exposed skin in older adults, especially on the back of the hands/ forehead. Liver spots are benign. Medically called a senile lentigo.

Liver transplant: Surgery to remove a diseased liver and replace it with a healthy liver (or part of one) from a donor. The most common reasons for liver transplantation in children is biliary atresia (a disease in which the ducts that carry bile out of the liver are missing or damaged) while in adults the most common reason for a liver transplant is cirrhosis (a disease in which healthy liver cells are killed and replaced with scar tissue).

Living donor liver transplantation: An option for patients who need a liver transplant. In this procedure, a healthy person (usually a family member, friend or co-worker) donates a portion of their liver to the transplant patient. One of the two lobes of the donor's liver is removed. The recipient's damaged liver is also removed. The healthy liver lobe is then attached in the place from which the recipient's liver was removed. There it begins rapidly to regenerate healthy liver tissue

Cirrhosis: An abnormal liver condition characterized by irreversible scarring of the liver. Alcohol and viral hepatitis B and C are among the many causes of cirrhosis. Cirrhosis can cause yellowing of the skin (jaundice), itching, and fatigue. Diagnosis of cirrhosis can be suggested by physical examination and blood tests, and can be confirmed by liver biopsy in some patients. Liver transplantation is becoming an important option for patients with advanced cirrhosis.

Hepatitis: Inflammation of the liver from any cause. Hepatitis is most often viral, due to infection with one of the hepatitis viruses (A, B, C, D, and E) or another virus (such as those that cause infectious mononucleosis, cytomegalovirus disease, or yellow fever). The main nonviral causes of hepatitis are alcohol and drugs.

Hepatitis A: Inflammation of the liver caused by the hepatitis A virus (HAV). HAV is usually transmitted from person to person by food or drink that has been contaminated with the stool of a person with hepatitis A. This type of transmission is called "fecal-oral." The virus is more easily spread in areas where there are poor sanitary conditions or where good personal hygiene is not observed.

Hepatitis B: Inflammation of the liver due to the hepatitis B virus (HBV), once thought to be passed only through blood products. It is now known that hepatitis B can also be transmitted via needle sticks, body piercing and tattooing using un sterilized instruments, the dialysis process, sexual and even less intimate close contact, and childbirth. Symptoms include fatigue, jaundice, nausea, vomiting, dark urine, light stools. Diagnosis is by blood test. Treatment is via anti-viral drugs and/or hepatitis B immunoglobulin (HBIG).

Hepatitis C: Inflammation of the liver due to the hepatitis C virus (HCV), which is usually spread by blood transfusion, hemodialysis, and needle sticks. HCV causes most transfusion-associated hepatitis, and the damage it does to the liver can lead to cirrhosis and cancer. Transmission of the virus by sexual contact is rare. At least half of HCV patients develop chronic hepatitis C infection. Diagnosis is by blood test. Treatment is via anti-viral drugs. Chronic hepatitis C may be treated with interferon, sometimes in combination with anti-virals. There is no vaccine for hepatitis C. Previously known as non-A, non-B hepatitis.

Hepatitis D, E, F, and G: Lesser known (than hepatitis A, B, and C), the most significant of these seems to be type D, or the delta agent, which only causes disease in the presence of the hepatitis B virus.

Jaundice: Yellow staining of the skin and sclerae (the whites of the eyes) by abnormally high blood levels of the bile pigment bilirubin. The yellowing extends to other tissues and body fluids. When red blood cells are removed from the bloodstream, hemoglobin, the molecule in red cells that carries oxygen, is broken down into bilirubin. The bilirubin is carried to the liver and excreted into the intestine as a component of bile.