Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0341503 (bacterial peritonitis)
 1,303 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Several age-related changes occur in the structure and functions of the liver. The volume of the liver decreases, despite an increase in the size of hepatocytes, suggesting loss of liver cells. There are decreases in hepatic blood flow, the synthesis of urea and cholesterol, and the metabolism of drugs. Moreover, the regenerative capacity of liver becomes less efficient. Certain caveats are important when treating older patients with liver disease. Strict dietary restrictions, such as a low protein diet, should be avoided in the elderly (unless the patient is encephalopathic) because these patients are often undernourished to start with. Similarly, strict salt restriction should be enforced with caution, since it makes food less palatable and may take away what little desire such patients have to eat. Diuretic doses should be adjusted carefully because of greater risks of azotaemia and electrolyte disturbances in the elderly. Extra vigilance should be exercised in the early detection of infections that are more likely to occur in patients with cirrhosis. For example, spontaneous bacterial peritonitis can be missed in the elderly because of poor systemic (fever, abdominal tenderness) and laboratory responses (leucocytosis). In patients presenting with acute variceal bleeding, it is better to err on the side of underhydration than overhydration because of the risk of congestive heart failure. Vasopressin should be avoided in the elderly, since this drug has a high probability of precipitating an ischaemic event. Older patients do not tolerate beta-blockers as well as younger individuals and may require other treatment strategies for the prevention of variceal rebleeding episodes. Hepatic encephalopathy, especially the milder form, needs careful assessment because it can be easily confused with senile dementia syndromes. Cirrhosis is a premalignant condition and patients are at increased risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a tumour seen predominantly in the elderly. All patients with cirrhosis should be maintained on a lifelong screening programme consisting of a 6-monthly assessment of alpha-fetoprotein and an imaging study, since early detection provides the only hope for cure of HCC. The only definitive treatment of cirrhosis is liver transplantation. Advanced age is not a contraindication to transplantation, and survival in older patients (aged >60 years) is comparable to that in younger individuals.
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PMID:Drug treatment of the complications of cirrhosis in the older adult. 1158 44

Hepatocellular carcinoma is a primary tumor complicating liver disease, associated with cirrhosis in 80-90% of the cases. A kidney transplant recipient with chronic B and C viral hepatitis was admitted because of general malaise, renal function impairment and positive AST, ALT and alkaline phosphatase tests, and very high alpha-fetoprotein levels. Ascites, spontaneous bacterial peritonitis and renal failure developed. A CT showed multiple liver masses. Renal failure required hemodialysis. The patient died 17 days after the initial symptoms with hepatic encephalopathy. A postmortem liver biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This report, as well as a few others, shows the accelerated evolution of chronic viral hepatitis in kidney transplant patients and questions the convenience of kidney transplantation and the adequate follow up in chronic viral hepatitis.
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PMID:[Fatal acute hepatic failure with hepatocarcinoma presentation in a patient with renal transplant with asymptomatic chronic B and C hepatitis]. 1172 27