Understanding the Liver
POLYCYSTIC LIVER DISEASE
What is the happening deal with Polycystic liver disease?
Polycystic liver disease is very a rare condition that causes cysts to grow throughout the liver. A normal liver has a smooth, uniform appearance. A polycystic liver might look like a cluster of very large sets of grapes. Cysts also can grow independently in different parts of the liver. The cysts, if they get too numerous or large, may cause discomfort and health complications.
SYMPTOMS
For most of the people with polycystic liver disease there are no symptoms, and these cysts are only found during an ultrasound scan.
Occasionally, the liver cysts will impinge on the vascular structures of the liver, leading to portal hypertension and variceal bleeding.
CAUSES
Liver cysts seem to be caused by the same genetic changes that lead to cysts in the kidney.
In the liver, the cysts develop in the bile ducts or liver tubules rather than in liver cells.
DISEASE
Caroli syndrome is a rare congenital liver disorder characterized by enlargement (dilation) of the small branches of the bile ducts inside the liver. If symptoms occur,
• The most common are abdominal pain
• Fever
• Yellowing of the skin (jaundice)
TREATMENT
Treatment may not be necessary in many cases of polycystic liver disease. Removal of the fluid in large cysts may be required in PLD patients with high level symptoms.
