Investigation of Sudden Cardiac Death
Mary N. Sheppard in Practical Cardiovascular Pathology, 2022
Many sudden deaths in subjects with alcoholic liver disease are explicable by very high blood alcohol levels, by inhalation of vomit, positional asphyxia and from ruptured oesophageal varices. In some cases, however, death is sudden and autopsy shows only a fatty liver with no other abnormality, and blood alcohol levels are below the lethal level. We call this sudden unexpected death in alcohol misuse (SUDAM).63 It can occur in heavy drinkers/alcoholics, often in the absence of coronary artery atheroma and histological abnormalities of the myocardium such as DCM. The cause is not so easy to determine when death occurred during or shortly after an alcoholic binge with only a modest increase in post-mortem blood alcohol levels. Studies have demonstrated that alcohol itself may lead to a fatal arrhythmia in addition to causing alcohol binge- or withdrawal-induced hyperadrenergic adrenaline (epinephrine) surges, electrolyte abnormalities, impaired vagal heart rate control, repolarization abnormalities with prolonged QT intervals, worsening of myocardial ischaemia and sleep apnoea.
Medical Problems in Alcoholics
Frank Lynn Iber in Alcohol and Drug Abuse as Encountered in Office Practice, 2020
Mental changes as a complication of cirrhosis apart from hepatic encephalopathy are not usually thought about. A recent study by Van Thiel and Tarter17 compared 18 neuropsychological tests assessing visuospacial, memory, language, and perceptual capacities in normals, cirrhotics, and alcoholics without cirrhosis. They found the most severe impairment in liver disease and found moderate improvement with treatment of the cirrhosis. The ultimate treatment of alcoholic liver disease and its complications is transplantation. The Pittsburgh group have had the most experience with this form of therapy and discuss the pros and cons of its use.18
Gastrointestinal system
Aida Lai in Essential Concepts in Anatomy and Pathology for Undergraduate Revision, 2018
Alcoholic liver disease Causes fatty liver and chronic hepatitisCharacteristic histological features: – Mallory’s hyaline– central hyaline sclerosis– neutrophil infiltration– liver cirrhosisSigns: – palmar erythema– Dupuytren’s contracture– jaundice– hepatomegaly– ascitesInvestigations: – history taking– GGT in blood
Efficacy of bile acid profiles in diagnosing and staging of alcoholic liver disease
Published in Scandinavian Journal of Clinical and Laboratory Investigation, 2023
Gaixia Zhang, Haizhen Chen, Wenbo Ren, Jing Huang
Prolonged excessive alcohol consumption leads to alcoholic liver disease (ALD), which is characterized by several histopathological changes, from simple steatosis to alcoholic steatohepatitis, progressive liver fibrosis and even cirrhosis. One of the features of alcoholic liver injury is the presence of oxidative stress, which leads to lipid peroxidation, steatosis, liver cell damage and death that in turn leads to the release of damage-related molecular patterns. Moreover, alcohol consumption promotes changes in the composition of the microbiota, increases intestinal permeability as well as the displacement of bacterial products. All these aspects activate Kupffer cells and promote the release of inflammatory cytokines, further exacerbating the inflammatory and fibrotic processes in the liver [3,4]. Patients with ALD may also suffer from cholestasis, mainly due to the accumulation of bile acids (BAs) due to the abnormal intestinal and hepatic circulation of BAs, which accelerates the progression of ALD [5]. Current studies found that ALD is rarely detected in the early stages compared with other liver diseases, leading to a poor prognosis in advanced patients, and alcohol consumption is also one of the causes of the progression of other liver diseases [6,7]. Therefore, accurate and noninvasive diagnostic indicators are urgently needed for the diagnosis of ALD and the evaluation of ALD staging.
Taxifolin, a novel food, attenuates acute alcohol-induced liver injury in mice through regulating the NF-κB-mediated inflammation and PI3K/Akt signalling pathways
Published in Pharmaceutical Biology, 2021
Chuanbo Ding, Yingchun Zhao, Xueyan Chen, Yinan Zheng, Wencong Liu, Xinglong Liu
Regular heavy drinking is harmful to health, and alcohol affects various body systems. Although its harmful effects vary with individual differences, long-term heavy drinking can lead to many chronic diseases and other serious health problems, which has become a serious public health problem. When the body’s intake of alcohol exceeds the metabolic rate, the excess will accumulate in the blood, leading to changes in normal body functions, and even a binge drinking can cause obvious body damage. Most acute alcoholic liver injury refers to toxic pathological damage to the liver caused by short-term heavy drinking; its incidence and the mortality rate are increasing year by year, and the research has attracted increasing attention (Yang et al. 2020). Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) may develop from hepatic steatosis to alcoholic hepatitis without intervention, and eventually lead to liver fibrosis, alcoholic cirrhosis and even liver cancer (Baghy et al. 2012). However, effective treatments can reverse the symptoms of early alcoholic liver toxicity, so finding effective treatment options is essential.
Bone disease in patients with cirrhosis of different etiology and severity; are Klotho protein and osteoprotegerin potential biomarkers?
Published in Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology, 2023
Panagiotis V. Katsaounis, Emilia S. Hadjiyannis, Teressa Skaltsi, Vassiliki A. Anargyrou, Alexandra A. Alexopoulou, Spyridon P. Dourakis, John S. Koskinas
A total of 74 patients and 25 matched healthy controls were enrolled in this study with a ratio 3:1. The median age of patients group was 59.2 years (range 37–82) and their mean body mass index was 26.25, whereas the median age of the control group was 57 years (range 33–78) and the body mass index was 27.7. Patients with cirrhosis had diverse underlying etiologies with the majority of patients (n = 39) diagnosed with alcoholic cirrhosis (n = 28) and cirrhosis due to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) (n = 11). Patients with alcoholic liver disease were abstained from alcohol the last 6 months. Thirty patients had viral infection (15 with HBV infection and 15 with HCV infection), four autoimmune diseases (three with primary biliary cirrhosis and one with primary sclerosing cholangitis) and one with Wilson’s disease.
Related Knowledge Centers
- Alcohol
- Alcoholic Hepatitis
- Cirrhosis
- Fibrosis
- Hepatitis
- Hepatitis C
- Liver Disease
- Liver
- Fatty Liver Disease
- Steatosis