Being in the diagnostic medical sonography field for over 14 years, I've scanned lots of livers. In fact, it's a high percentage of the exams that we do. I came across this article from Johns Hopkins Medicine, giving a condensed and easy to read explanation of the function of the liver, and what we can do to keep it healthy. And while I thought this article was very informative, I felt like it left out a couple important points which I've included in italics within the article.
Most of the time an ultrasound is ordered because annual physical blood work results have come back indicating that the liver enzymes are elevated. Sometimes patients have abdominal pain and a thorough evaluation of all of the abdominal organs is done.
Below the article, I've provided some ultrasound images of the liver in various stages from normal to abnormal. I thought you might like to see what we look for and how differently these liver stages appear on ultrasound.
5 Ways to Be Kind to Your Liver | Johns Hopkins Medicine
Your liver, a big organ that gets little credit, is kind of like your old school custodian. Remember him? If he wasn’t cleaning up or taking out the trash, he was building or repairing furniture, storing supplies and handing them out, even keeping all you kids in line. Sure, your school wouldn’t have lasted long without the principal or teachers — but it couldn’t go a week without the custodian.
Your liver is all that and more, insists Saleh Alqahtani, director of clinical liver research for Johns Hopkins Medicine. The second-largest organ in your body, your liver has some 500 critical jobs. “Your liver removes all toxins, clears medication from your body and metabolizes [breaks down] all your food,” says Dr. Alqahtani. It also gets rid of alcohol, builds proteins and makes bile, which helps you absorb fats, stores sugar for when you really need it and regulates hormone levels. For your liver, that’s all in a day’s work.
What could possibly go wrong?
Your liver health may not be top of mind, but the minute it malfunctioned there wouldn’t be much else on your mind. Cirrhosis, in which liver cells are replaced with scar tissue, can prevent your liver from doing its critical jobs. So can nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, a fast-growing epidemic among the obese, which can lead to cirrhosis. “If your liver stopped working,” says Dr. Alqahtani, “toxins would accumulate, you couldn’t digest your food and medications would never leave your body.”
In fact — you can’t live a week without your liver.
Cirrhosis increases the risk of developing liver cancer by at least 40 times over the risk of an average person. Of all people with cirrhosis, 3 percent will develop liver cancer every year. So it is not surprising that 70 to 90 percent of all cases of liver cancer in the United States occur in livers that are cirrhotic -everydayhealth/liver-cancer/cirrhosis
So here’s a list of ways to avoid liver disease. Some of them are healthy behaviors you might do anyway. Others may never have occurred to you. Heed these tips to stay right with your liver.
1. Be careful about alcohol consumption
If you think only lifelong, falling-down drunks get cirrhosis of the liver — you’re mistaken. Just four ounces a day of hard liquor (for men; two for women) can begin to scar your liver.
If you drink more than 2 drinks a day, you are increasing your risk. A drink is a 5-oz glass of wine, a 12 oz can of beer, or a 1 1/2-oz portion of hard liquor -webmd/cirrhosis-liver
2. Wash produce and steer clear of toxins
Pesticides and other toxins can damage your liver. Read warning labels on the chemicals you use.
3. Prevent hepatitis A, B and C
*Get vaccinated: Hepatitis A and B are viral diseases of the liver. While many children have now been immunized, many adults have not. Ask your doctor if you are at risk.
*Practice safe sex: Hepatitis B and C can develop into chronic conditions that may eventually destroy your liver. They are transmitted by blood and other bodily fluids.
*Wash your hands: Hepatitis A is spread through contact with feces.
4. Watch out for medications and herbs
This is especially true if you drink alcohol, take statins or acetaminophen (non-aspirin pain reliever) or use dietary supplements. “The number one reason clinical [medicine] trials are stopped or drugs removed from the market is the liver,” warns Dr. Alqahtani, who adds, “20 percent of liver injury in the U.S. is caused by supplements.” The National Institutes of Health has a database of substances known to be toxic to your liver.
5. Exercise and eat right
Avoid nonalcoholic fatty liver disease by avoiding obesity.
5 Ways to Be Kind to Your Liver | Johns Hopkins Medicine
Your liver, a big organ that gets little credit, is kind of like your old school custodian. Remember him? If he wasn’t cleaning up or taking out the trash, he was building or repairing furniture, storing supplies and handing them out, even keeping all you kids in line. Sure, your school wouldn’t have lasted long without the principal or teachers — but it couldn’t go a week without the custodian.
Your liver is all that and more, insists Saleh Alqahtani, director of clinical liver research for Johns Hopkins Medicine. The second-largest organ in your body, your liver has some 500 critical jobs. “Your liver removes all toxins, clears medication from your body and metabolizes [breaks down] all your food,” says Dr. Alqahtani. It also gets rid of alcohol, builds proteins and makes bile, which helps you absorb fats, stores sugar for when you really need it and regulates hormone levels. For your liver, that’s all in a day’s work.
What could possibly go wrong?
Your liver health may not be top of mind, but the minute it malfunctioned there wouldn’t be much else on your mind. Cirrhosis, in which liver cells are replaced with scar tissue, can prevent your liver from doing its critical jobs. So can nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, a fast-growing epidemic among the obese, which can lead to cirrhosis. “If your liver stopped working,” says Dr. Alqahtani, “toxins would accumulate, you couldn’t digest your food and medications would never leave your body.”
In fact — you can’t live a week without your liver.
Cirrhosis increases the risk of developing liver cancer by at least 40 times over the risk of an average person. Of all people with cirrhosis, 3 percent will develop liver cancer every year. So it is not surprising that 70 to 90 percent of all cases of liver cancer in the United States occur in livers that are cirrhotic -everydayhealth/liver-cancer/cirrhosis
So here’s a list of ways to avoid liver disease. Some of them are healthy behaviors you might do anyway. Others may never have occurred to you. Heed these tips to stay right with your liver.
1. Be careful about alcohol consumption
If you think only lifelong, falling-down drunks get cirrhosis of the liver — you’re mistaken. Just four ounces a day of hard liquor (for men; two for women) can begin to scar your liver.
If you drink more than 2 drinks a day, you are increasing your risk. A drink is a 5-oz glass of wine, a 12 oz can of beer, or a 1 1/2-oz portion of hard liquor -webmd/cirrhosis-liver
2. Wash produce and steer clear of toxins
Pesticides and other toxins can damage your liver. Read warning labels on the chemicals you use.
3. Prevent hepatitis A, B and C
*Get vaccinated: Hepatitis A and B are viral diseases of the liver. While many children have now been immunized, many adults have not. Ask your doctor if you are at risk.
*Practice safe sex: Hepatitis B and C can develop into chronic conditions that may eventually destroy your liver. They are transmitted by blood and other bodily fluids.
*Wash your hands: Hepatitis A is spread through contact with feces.
4. Watch out for medications and herbs
This is especially true if you drink alcohol, take statins or acetaminophen (non-aspirin pain reliever) or use dietary supplements. “The number one reason clinical [medicine] trials are stopped or drugs removed from the market is the liver,” warns Dr. Alqahtani, who adds, “20 percent of liver injury in the U.S. is caused by supplements.” The National Institutes of Health has a database of substances known to be toxic to your liver.
5. Exercise and eat right
Avoid nonalcoholic fatty liver disease by avoiding obesity.
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| Normal liver |
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| Fatty liver |
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| Fatty liver |
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| Cirrhosis |
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| Hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer) |
Note: The ultrasound images were taken from on-line sources and are not from any patients I have scanned
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