Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0023890 (cirrhosis)
 42,195 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Histiocytosis X describes a disease characterized by histiocytic infiltration of the reticuloendothelial system, skin, bones, and pituitary gland. The disseminated form frequently occurs in infants and children. Chemotherapy has significantly improved the prognosis in this disorder. Sixty-three per cent of survivors, however, have some residual disability related to fibrosis of tissues previously infiltrated by histiocytes. In instances of liver involvement, healing by fibrosis may result in cirrhosis with portal hypertension and bleeding esophageal varices. Clinical findings include hepatosplenomegaly, jaundice, ascites, hypoalbuminemia, prolonged prothrombin time, and Bromsulphalein retention. Histologic examination of the liver shows a characteristic dense "macronodular" periportal cirrhotic pattern. Three children with portal hypertension and bleeding varices due to healed histiocytosis X were sucessfully managed by portosystemic shunt procedures. Portacaval, mesocaval, and central splenorenal shunts were equally effective in relieving poral hypertension. These children had neither recurrence of bleeding nor evidence of encephalopathy. Two children remain well whereas in one patient a primary hepatoma developed fourteen years posthung and he died of pulmonary metastases. Portosystemic shunt procedures effectively relieve the threat of potentially fatal variceal hemorrhage and improve the opportunity for long-term survival in children with cirrhosis and portal hypertension due to healed histiocytosis X.
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PMID:Portal hypertension in infants and children with histiocytosis X. 108 50

Cutaneous histiocytosis may take two principal forms. It is either a benign proliferative process or a relentless, progressive process with a poor prognosis. In histiocytic medullary reticulosis, histiocytes demonstrate nuclear atypia and the outcome is uniformly fatal. Benign cephalic histiocytosis X causes lesions similar to those of histiocytosis X, but Langerhans' cells are absent. In congenital self-healing histiocytosis X, the Letterer-Siwe-like cutaneous infiltrate contains Langerhans' cells, but the lesions heal spontaneously without treatment. The nodular cutaneous lesions of juvenile xanthogranuloma appear in infancy and resolve without treatment; however, the higher percentage (10%) of associated ocular lesions may lead to glaucoma and blindness. In histiocytosis X, the cutaneous lesions show a marked proliferation of Langerhans' cells, with prognosis dependent on the patient's age and the extent of organ dysfunction. Patients who survive the acute form of the disease may develop diabetes insipidus, growth retardation, pulmonary fibrosis, and biliary cirrhosis. A subtle immunologic defect has been identified in patients with histiocytosis X, yet the pathogenesis of the disease is still speculative. Familial disease occurring in early infancy should be differentiated from complete or partial immunodeficiency syndromes. Guidelines for evaluating patients with cutaneous histiocytosis are reviewed.
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PMID:Cutaneous histiocytosis syndromes. 299 40

Cirrhosis of the liver was diagnosed in an 18-year-old man with histiocytosis X. Electron microscopy and immunohistochemistry revealed infiltration of the liver by the typical cellular elements of histiocytosis X. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiography showed alterations resembling those of sclerosing cholangitis. Sixteen months later, the patient died of recurrent variceal bleeding and cholangiosepsis. Autopsy confirmed that cirrhosis was the main manifestations of the underlying disease. Thus, cirrhosis of liver can be a main and potentially fatal manifestation of histiocytosis X beyond the pediatric age range. Histiocytosis X may lead to parenchymal infiltration of the liver and to changes of the major bile ducts resembling sclerosing cholangitis. The diagnosis of hepatic histiocytosis X can easily be missed without relying on appropriate electron microscopic and immunohistochemical investigations.
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PMID:Liver cirrhosis in histiocytosis X. 326 77