Liver Diseases

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Basics

• Summary
• Start Here
• Diagnosis and Tests
• Prevention and Risk Factors
• Treatments and Therapies

Learn More

• Related Issues
• Specifics
• Genetics

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Research

• Statistics and Research
• Clinical Trials
• Journal Articles

Resources

• Find an Expert

For You

• Children
• Patient Handouts

Summary

Your liver is the largest organ inside your body. It helps your body digest food, store energy, and remove poisons.

There are many kinds of liver diseases:

• Diseases caused by viruses, such as hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C
• Diseases caused by drugs, poisons, or too much alcohol. Examples include fatty liver disease and cirrhosis.
• Liver cancer
• Inherited diseases, such as hemochromatosis and Wilson disease

Symptoms of liver disease can vary, but they often include swelling of the abdomen and legs, bruising easily, changes in the color of your stool and urine, and jaundice, or yellowing of the skin and eyes. Sometimes there are no symptoms. Tests such as imaging tests and liver function tests can check for liver damage and help to diagnose liver diseases.

Start Here

• Liver Disease (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
• Progression of Liver Disease (American Liver Foundation)

Diagnosis and Tests

• Abdominal and Pelvic CT (American College of Radiology, Radiological Society of North America) Also in Spanish
• Abdominal Ultrasound (American College of Radiology, Radiological Society of North America) Also in Spanish
• Elastography (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• ERCP (Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography) (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases) Also in Spanish
• Gamma-glutamyl Transferase (GGT) Test (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Lactate Dehydrogenase (LDH) Isoenzymes Test (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Lactate Dehydrogenase (LDH) Test (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Liver Biopsy (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases) Also in Spanish
• Liver Function Tests (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Magnetic Resonance Cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) (American College of Radiology, Radiological Society of North America) Also in Spanish
• MRI of the Body (Chest, Abdomen, Pelvis) (American College of Radiology, Radiological Society of North America) Also in Spanish
• Needle Biopsy (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish

Prevention and Risk Factors

• 25 Ways to Love Your Liver (American Liver Foundation)

Treatments and Therapies

• Dandelion (National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health)
• Liver Transplantation: MedlinePlus Health Topic (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Milk Thistle (National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health)
• Transjugular Intrahepatic Portosystemic Shunt (TIPS) (American College of Radiology, Radiological Society of North America) Also in Spanish

Related Issues

• Careful: Acetaminophen in Pain Relief Medicines Can Cause Liver Damage (Food and Drug Administration)
• Cirrhosis and Portal Hypertension (American Academy of Family Physicians) Also in Spanish
• COVID-19: Liver Disease (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Also in Spanish
• Hepatic Encephalopathy (American Liver Foundation)
• Liver Disease and Adult Vaccination (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Specifics

• Acute Liver Failure (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
• Alagille Syndrome (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)
• Benign Liver Tumors (American Liver Foundation)
• Enlarged Liver (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
• Gilbert's Syndrome (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
• Liver Cysts: A Cause of Abdominal Pain? (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
• Liver Hemangioma (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
• Portal Hypertension (Merck & Co., Inc.) Also in Spanish
• Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases) Also in Spanish
• Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC) (American Liver Foundation)

Genetics

• Alagille syndrome: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Alpers-Huttenlocher syndrome: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• benign recurrent intrahepatic cholestasis: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• childhood myocerebrohepatopathy spectrum: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• congenital bile acid synthesis defect type 2: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• congenital generalized lipodystrophy: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• congenital hepatic fibrosis: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Crigler-Najjar syndrome: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Gilbert syndrome: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• glycogen storage disease type III: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• glycogen storage disease type VI: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• hepatic veno-occlusive disease with immunodeficiency: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• MPV17-related hepatocerebral mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• Rotor syndrome: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
• tyrosinemia: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)

Statistics and Research

• FastStats: Chronic Liver Disease and Cirrhosis (National Center for Health Statistics)
• LiverTox: Clinical and Research Information on Drug-Induced Liver Injury (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Library of Medicine)

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Alagille Syndrome (National Institutes of Health)
• ClinicalTrials.gov: Liver Diseases (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: Traditional Chinese medicine on treating splenomegaly due to portal hypertension in...
• Article: Molecular and cellular mechanisms of liver dysfunction in COVID-19.
• Article: Potential effects of SARS-CoV-2 on the gastrointestinal tract and liver.
• Liver Diseases -- see more articles

Find an Expert

• American Liver Foundation
• Find a Liver Expert (American College of Gastroenterology)
• National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Children

• Alagille Syndrome (American Liver Foundation)
• Biliary Atresia (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)
• Galactosemia (American Liver Foundation)
• Type I Glycogen Storage Disease (American Liver Foundation)

Patient Handouts

• ALP isoenzyme test (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Ascites (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Diet - liver disease (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Hepatic encephalopathy (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Hepatomegaly (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Liver disease (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Liver scan (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish