Endstage liver disease characterized by diffuse damage to hepatic parenchymal cells, with nodular regeneration, fibrosis, and disturbance of normal architecture; associated with failure in the function of hepatic cells and interference with blood flow in the liver, frequently resulting in jaundice, portal hypertension, ascites, and ultimately biochemical and functional signs of hepatic failure. [G. kirrhos, yellow (liver), + -osis, condition]
- alcoholic c. c. that frequently develops in chronic alcoholism, characterized in an early stage by enlargement of the liver due to fatty change with mild fibrosis, and later by Laënnec c. with contraction of the liver.
- biliary c. c. due to biliary obstruction, which may be a primary intrahepatic disease or secondary to obstruction of extrahepatic bile ducts; the latter may lead to cholestasis and proliferation in small bile ducts with fibrosis, but marked disturbance of the lobular pattern is infrequent. SEE ALSO: primary biliary c..
- cardiac c. an extensive fibrotic reaction within the liver as a result of chronic constrictive pericarditis or prolonged congestive heart failure; true c. with fibrous bridging of lobules is unusual. SYN: cardiac liver, congestive c., pseudocirrhosis, stasis c..
- congestive c. SYN: cardiac c..
- fatty c. early nutritional c., especially in alcoholics, in which the liver is enlarged by fatty change, with mild fibrosis.
- Glisson c. chronic perihepatitis with thickening and subsequent contraction, resulting in atrophy and deformity of the liver. SYN: capsular c. of liver.
- juvenile c. SYN: chronic active hepatitis.
- Laënnec c. c. in which normal liver lobules are replaced by small regeneration nodules, sometimes containing fat, separated by a fairly regular framework of fine fibrous tissue strands (hob-nail liver); usually due to chronic alcoholism. Can cause severe impairment of liver function, portal hypertension with ascites and esophageal varices, and life-threatening complications. SYN: portal c..
- necrotic c. SYN: postnecrotic c..
- nutritional c. c. occurring in persons or animals with general or specific dietary deficiencies; methionine and cystine deficiency may produce changes of c. in animals, but it is uncertain whether malnutrition in humans leads to c. or only to reversible fatty infiltration of the liver.
- periportal c. c. of the liver with wide bands of fibrosis surrounding large segments of liver, with regenerative nodules.
- pigmentary c. c. resulting from excessive deposits of iron in the liver, usually seen in hemochromatosis.
- pipe stem c. c. of the liver with fingerlike fibrosis predominantly around portal tracts, seen in schistosomiasis. Leads to portal hypertension but rarely to functional failure of the liver.
- portal c. SYN: Laënnec c..
- posthepatitic c. SYN: chronic active hepatitis.
- postnecrotic c. c. characterized by necrosis involving whole hepatic lobules, with collapse of the reticular framework to form large scars; regeneration nodules are also large; may follow viral or toxic necrosis, or develop as a result of ischemic necrosis. SYN: necrotic c..
- primary biliary c. a condition occurring mainly in middle-aged women, characterized by obstructive jaundice with hyperlipemia, pruritis, and hyperpigmentation of the skin; no obstruction of large bile ducts or proliferation of small bile ducts is found; the liver shows c. with marked portal infiltration by lymphocytes and plasma cells, and frequently by epithelioid cell granulomas; serum antimitochondrial antibodies are present in 85–90% of patients. SYN: Hanot c..
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cir·rho·sis sə-'rō-səs n, pl -rho·ses -.sēz widespread disruption of normal liver structure by fibrosis and the formation of regenerative nodules that is caused by any of various chronic progressive conditions affecting the liver (as long-term alcohol abuse or hepatitis) see BILIARY CIRRHOSIS
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n.
a condition in which the liver responds to injury or death of some of its cells by producing interlacing strands of fibrous tissue between which are nodules of regenerating cells. The liver becomes tawny and characteristically knobbly (due to the nodules). Causes include alcoholism (alcoholic cirrhosis), viral hepatitis (postnecrotic cirrhosis), chronic obstruction of the common bile duct (secondary biliary cirrhosis), autoimmune diseases (chronic aggressive hepatitis, primary biliary cirrhosis), and chronic heart failure (cardiac cirrhosis). In at least half the cases of cirrhosis no cause is found (cryptogenic cirrhosis). Complications include portal hypertension, ascites, hepatic encephalopathy, and hepatoma. Cirrhosis cannot be cured but its progress may be stopped if the cause can be removed. This particularly applies in alcoholism (when all alcohol must be prohibited); in chronic hepatitis (in which corticosteroid treatment may reduce inflammation); in secondary biliary cirrhosis (in which surgery may relieve obstruction); and in cardiac failure that can be treated.
• cirrhotic adj.
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cir·rho·sis (sĭ-roґsis) [Gr. kirrhos orange-yellow] any of a group of chronic diseases of the liver characterized by loss of normal lobular architecture with fibrosis, and by destruction of parenchymal cells and their regeneration to form nodules. These diseases have long latent periods, usually followed by sudden abdominal swelling and pain, hematemesis, dependent edema, or jaundice. In advanced stages, prominent symptoms include ascites, jaundice, portal hypertension, and central nervous system disorders that may end in hepatic coma. Often informally called c. of the liver, but nowadays all cirrhosis is “of the liver.†cirrhotic adjMedical dictionary. 2011.