Hepatitis Forums
Hepatitis C Prevention, Transmission and Testing => Am I Infected? => Topic started by: KGP on September 12, 2016, 11:54:34 pm
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Which is good news, and negative for autoimmune diseases, but doc says his spleen is enlarged (normal blood tests) what could this mean? He has scarring on liver too
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Getting a CT scan next week! Possible he can still have liver disease? Pain on right side
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Only way to know what is going on with him is to get tested and have a diagnosis from a doctor. Does he drink?
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He used to until he found out the news, but the doc doesn't seem to think its from drinking...
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So what does his doctor believe is the cause has he said?
Really the only way to find out is have the appropriate testing done and then go from there.
Anything else at this point is wild guessing.
Some info from web MD
An enlarged spleen can be caused by infections, cirrhosis and other liver diseases, blood diseases characterized by abnormal blood cells, problems with the lymph system, or other conditions. Other causes of an enlarged spleen include: Inflammatory diseases such as sarcoidosis, lupus, and rheumatoid arthritis.
How did his doctor determine his spleen is enlarged and that he has liver scarring? What tests has he had so far?
Did he have an abdominal ultrasound performed? Why did he see the doctor in the first place that he had testing done? Was it found on a physical? Was he not feeling well?
Generally the liver does not feel pain. There are no pain nerve receptors in the liver. I have liver cirrhosis for over 8 years now and do not feel pain in my liver area. However the capsule that surrounds the liver does have pain receptors. This pain could be from pressure exerted from an enlarged organ or a long list of other possibilities
From the Mayo Clinic web page
The following conditions often cause upper right abdominal pain:
Appendicitis
Cholangitis (bile duct inflammation)
Diverticulitis
Fecal impaction (hardened stool that can't be eliminated)
Gallbladder cancer
Hepatitis
Gastritis (inflammation of the stomach lining)
Hepatitis (liver inflammation)
Hiatal hernia
Injury
Intestinal obstruction
Kidney cancer
Kidney infection
Kidney stones
Liver abscess (pus-filled pocket in the liver)
Liver cancer
Liver hemangioma
Pancreatic cancer
Pancreatitis (pancreas inflammation)
Peptic ulcer
Pericarditis (inflammation of the tissue around the heart)
Pleurisy (inflammation of the membrane surrounding your lungs)
Pneumonia
Pulmonary infarction (loss of blood flow to the lungs)
Pyloric stenosis (in infants)
Shingles
Stomach cancer
http://www.mayoclinic.org/symptoms/abdominal-pain/basics/causes/sym-20050728
Hope some of this helps
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He is getting a ct scan next week! He has pain near liver we don't know if it's radiating from that or not, all scary, just like having people's opinions before I even know what's going on...
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He went to doc initially for stomach pain, in which he thought was maybe an ulcer, ultrasound showed scarring on liver and they did allll sorts of blood tests and all came out negative,
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I don't believe but could be incorrect that an ultrasound can show liver scarring. It can show the surface texture of the liver if it appears rough and course as it would appear with cirrhosis. Really ultrasound is not normally used to diagnose liver cirrhosis.
The tests used to diagnose liver cirrhosis could be a blood test called a fibrosure or a test similar to an ultrasound but with a probe that generates a sort of thump to see how stiff the liver is this is called a fibroscan or a liver biopsy this is where they use a needle to take a small piece of liver and examine under the microscope.
Do you know what tests were run and what exactly were the results? Do you have copies?
What kind of doctor has he seen? Is his doctor a gastroenterologist or a general practitioner? If not he should get a referral to a gastro they can best diagnose things going on in the abdomen.
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I don't have his actual test results in hand, but they tested for all hep panel, iron, copper, wilsons diseas, etc and yes he was referred to a gastro...thank goodness! The ultra sound did indicate scarring, but they can't be certain obviously because ultrasounds are never all that accurate. We may think it's an autoimmune thing, this whole waiting period sucks though...what symptoms did you have when you were in stage 3 or 4 of cirrhosis? And is it called cirrhosis in stage 2? Or would that be fibrosis? Thank you for quickly responding! I appreciate it! Shows that we aren't alone...
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As far as the "F" numbers a normal liver is at a stage between F0 and F1. Stage F2 denotes light fibrosis, and F3 is severe fibrosis. 'Cirrhosis' is defined from stage F4, when scar tissue exists throughout the liver.
So only F4 is called cirrhosis anything less is increasing amounts of fibrosis or liver scarring.
I had zero idea I had cirrhosis. All I knew was as I had each liver biopsy at 5 year intervals I went from F1 to F2 to F3 and finally F4 cirrhosis. I have always felt more or less fine.
After I was diagnosed the only symptom I have ever noticed is I have some lower leg swelling called pitting edema which is caused by my liver cirrhosis.
The other problems I have had are only detected on testing like my low platelet count due to portal hypertension and I also developed esophageal varicies (enlarged blood vessels in the esophagus) that I had banded. Those were found on my 3rd upper endoscopy. On my first I had grade 1 varicies on my 2nd I had grade 2 varicies and on the third they had increased further to grade 3. But again this was not something I felt. They were only visible on upper endoscopy.
There are many causes of liver cirrhosis other than Hep C or Hep B or drinking too much alcohol. In fact not every one in those categories ever develop liver damage.
I got this from the Mayo clinic web site
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/cirrhosis/symptoms-causes/dxc-20187350
A wide range of diseases and conditions can damage the liver and lead to cirrhosis. The most common causes are:
Chronic alcohol abuse
Chronic viral hepatitis (hepatitis B and C)
Fat accumulating in the liver (nonalcoholic fatty liver disease)
Other possible causes include:
Iron buildup in the body (hemochromatosis)
Cystic fibrosis
Copper accumulated in the liver (Wilson's disease)
Poorly formed bile ducts (biliary atresia)
Inherited disorders of sugar metabolism (galactosemia or glycogen storage disease)
Genetic digestive disorder (Alagille syndrome)
Liver disease caused by your body's immune system (autoimmune hepatitis)
Destruction of the bile ducts (primary biliary cirrhosis)
Hardening and scarring of the bile ducts (primary sclerosing cholangitis)
Infection such schistosomiasis
Medications such as methotrexate
I am sure his doctors are working hard to determine the root cause of his illness, find out how much damage he actually has and then they will set up a treatment plan for him.
As far as liver damage hopefully his gastro will get him a fibroscan test to try to determine the extent of his liver damage.
Here is something I found about fibroscan
http://www.uhn.ca/PatientsFamilies/Health_Information/Health_Topics/Documents/FibroScan_Liver_Disease.pdf
http://hepatitiscnewdrugresearch.com/fibroscan-results-the-scoring-card.html
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/FibroScan_Scoring_Card_for_Liver_Stiffness_Diagnosis.png
Best of luck to you both
Lynn