Fatty liver

Fatty liver or Steatorrhoeic Hepatosis is a reversible condition seen in chronic alcoholismand many other conditions, where large vacuolesof lipidaccumulate in hepatocytes(the cells of the liver). Accumulation of fat in liver cells will cause the liver to enlarge. The lipid within the vacuoles is a particular type of lipid known as triglyceride. Triglyceride molecules consist of a glycerolbackbone with three fatty acidmolecules joined on.

Causes

Many chemicals, such as alcohol and drugs can cause fatty liver.

Fatty liver can occur in diabetes mellitusand in pregnancy. It can also be seen in starvationand obesity. In addition, it is also a minor symptom of hepatitis

Pathology

Fatty change represents the intracytoplasmicaccumulation of triglyceride (neutral fats). At the beginning, the hepatocytes present small fat vacuoles (liposomes) around the nucleus - microvesicular fatty change. In the late stages, the size of the vacuoles increases pushing the nucleus to the periphery of the cell - macrovesicular fatty change. These vesicles are well delineated and optically "empty" because fats solves during tissue processing. Large vacuoles may coalesce, producing fatty cysts - which are irrevesible lesions. 1

Treatment and prevention

The treatment of fatty liver depends on what is causing it, and generally, treating the underlying cause will remove the problem.

External links

• Sandra Cabot MD - Fatty Liver
• The Merck Manual - Fatty Liver
• Photo at: Atlas of Pathology

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatty+liver Wikipedia article Fatty liver.