hepatic and biliary disorders
Liver Structure and Function
Pathophysiology of Liver Disorders
Liver disorders can result from a wide variety of insults, including infections, drugs, toxins, ischemia, and autoimmune disorders. Occasionally, Postoperative Liver Dysfunction . Most liver disorders cause some degree of hepatocellular injury and necrosis, resulting in various abnormal laboratory test results and, sometimes, symptoms. Symptoms may be due to liver disease itself (eg, Despite necrosis, the liver can regenerate itself. Even extensive necrosis can resolve completely (eg, in acute viral hepatitis). Incomplete regeneration and Hepatic Fibrosis , however, may result from injury that bridges entire lobules or from less pronounced but ongoing damage. Specific diseases preferentially affect certain hepatobiliary structures or functions (eg, Overview of Acute Viral Hepatitis is primarily manifested by damage to hepatocytes or hepatocellular injury; The prognosis of serious complications is worse in older adults, who are less able to recover from severe physiologic stresses and to tolerate toxic accumulations. 