Congestive hepatopathy

Congestive hepatopathy
Classification and external resources
Micrograph of congestive hepatopathy demonstrating perisinusoidal fibrosis and centrilobular (zone III) sinusoidal dilation. Liver biopsy. H&E stain.
ICD-9	573.8

In hepatology, congestive hepatopathy, also known as nutmeg liver and chronic passive congestion of the liver, is liver dysfunction due to venous congestion, usually cardiac dysfunction, i.e. right heart failure or (less specifically) congestive heart failure.

The gross pathological appearance of a liver affected by chronic passive congestion is "speckled" like a grated nutmeg kernel; the dark spots represent the dilated and congested hepatic venules and small hepatic veins. The paler areas are unaffected surrounding liver tissue.

When severe and longstanding, hepatic congestion can lead to fibrosis, which is often called cardiac cirrhosis.^[1]

Etiology

Increased pressure in the sublobular branches of the hepatic veins causes an engorgement of venous blood, and is most frequently due to chronic cardiac lesions, especially those affecting the right heart, the blood being dammed back in the inferior vena cava and hepatic veins. Central regions of the hepatic lobules are red/brown and stand out against the noncongested, tan-coloured liver. Centrilobular necrosis occurs. Macroscopically, the liver has a pale and spotty appearance in affected areas, as stasis of the blood causes pericentral hepatocytes (liver cells surrounding the periportal venules of the liver) to become deoxygenated compared to the relatively better-oxygenated periportal hepatocytes adjacent to the hepatic arterioles. This retardation of the blood also occurs in pulmonary lesions, such as chronic interstitial pneumonia, pleural effusions, and intrathoracic tumors.

Symptoms

Symptoms depend largely upon the primary lesions giving rise to the condition. In addition to the cardiac or pulmonary symptoms, there will be a sense of fullness and tenderness in the right hypochondriac region. Gastrointestinal catarrh is usually present, and hematemesis may occur. There is usually more or less jaundice. Owing to portal obstruction, ascites occurs, followed later by general dropsy. The stools are light or clay-colored, and the urine is colored by bile. On palpation, the liver is found enlarged and tender, sometimes extending several inches below the costal margin of the ribs.

Treatment

Treatment is directed largely to removing the cause, or, where that is impossible, to modifying its effects. Thus, therapy aimed at improving right cardiac function will also improve congestive hepatopathy. True nutmeg liver is usually secondary to left-sided heart failure causing congestive right heart failure, so treatment options are limited.

Additional images

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  Micrograph of congestive hepatopathy demonstrating centrilobular (zone III) sinusoidal dilation. Liver biopsy. H&E stain.

See also

• Ischemic hepatitis

References

1. ^ Giallourakis CC, Rosenberg PM, Friedman LS (2002). "The liver in heart failure". Clin Liver Dis 6 (4): 947–67, viii-ix. doi:10.1016/S1089-3261(02)00056-9. PMID 12516201.