HEPATOMEGALY
What’s hepatomegaly?
- If you have an enlarged liver, it could mean that you have:
- a liver disease
- cancer, such as leukemia
- a genetic disease
- heart and blood vessel abnormalities
- an infection
- toxin poisoning
- Many of the symptoms that cause hepatomegaly can impair your liver’s ability to function and help your body.
Symptoms
- An enlarged liver might not cause symptoms.
- When enlarged liver results from liver disease, it might be accompanied by:
- Abdominal pain
- Fatigue
- Nausea and vomiting
- Yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyes (jaundice)
Causes
The liver is a large, football-shaped organ found in the upper right portion of your abdomen. The size of the liver varies with age, sex and body size. Many conditions can cause it to enlarge, including:
- Liver diseases
- Cirrhosis
- Hepatitis caused by a virus — including hepatitis A, B and C — or caused by infectious mononucleosis
- Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease
- Alcoholic fatty liver disease
- A disorder that causes abnormal protein to accumulate in your liver (amyloidosis)
- A genetic disorder that causes copper to accumulate in your liver (Wilson’s disease)
- A disorder that causes iron to accumulate in your liver (hemachromatosis)
- A disorder that causes fatty substances to accumulate in your liver (Gaucher’s disease)
- Fluid-filled pockets in the liver (liver cysts)
- Noncancerous liver tumors, including hemangioma and adenoma
- Obstruction of the gallbladder or bile ducts
- Toxic hepatitis
- Cancers
- Cancer that begins in another part of the body and spreads to the liver
- Leukemia
- Liver cancer
- Lymphoma
- Heart and blood vessel problems
- Blockage of the veins that drain the liver (Budd-Chiari syndrome)
- Heart failure
- Inflammation of the tissue surrounding the heart (pericarditis)
Risk factors
- You’re more likely to develop an enlarged liver if you have a liver disease. Factors that can increase your risk of liver problems include:
- Excessive alcohol use. Drinking large amounts of alcohol can be damaging to your liver.
- Large doses of medicines, vitamins or supplements. Taking larger than recommended doses of vitamins, supplements, or over-the-counter (OTC) or prescription medicines can increase your risk of liver damage.
- Herbal supplements. Certain supplements, including black cohosh, ma huang and valerian, can increase your risk of liver damage.
- Infections. Infectious diseases, viral, bacterial or parasitic, can increase your risk of liver damage.
- Hepatitis viruses. Hepatitis A, B and C can cause liver damage.
- Poor eating habits. Being overweight increases your risk of liver disease, as does eating unhealthy foods, such as those with excess fat or sugar.
