Peliosis hepatis

Peliosis hepatis
The CT scan of a patient with peliosis hepatis (left): The follow-up CT (right) after 7 years shows full remission.
SpecialtyGastroenterology, hepatology
Symptomsasymptomatic, abdominal pain, jaundice

Peliosis hepatis is an uncommon vascular condition characterised by multiple, randomly distributed, blood-filled cavities throughout the liver. The size of the cavities usually ranges between a few millimetres and 3 cm in diameter.[1] In the past, it was a mere histological curiosity occasionally found at autopsies, but has been increasingly recognised with wide-ranging conditions from AIDS to the use of anabolic steroids. It also occasionally affects spleen, lymph nodes, lungs, kidneys, adrenal glands, bone marrow, and other parts of gastrointestinal tract.[2]

Peliosis hepatis is often erroneously written "peliosis hepatitis", despite its not being one of the hepatitides. The correct term arises from the Greek pelios, i.e. discoloured by extravasated blood, livid,[3] and the Latinized genitive case (hepatis[4]) of the Greek hepar, liver.[5]

  1. ^ Sleisenger, Marvin (2006). Sleisenger and Fordtran's Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders Company. ISBN 978-1-4160-0245-1. Chapter 80
  2. ^ Ichijima K, Kobashi Y, Yamabe H, Fujii Y, Inoue Y (1980). "Peliosis hepatis. An unusual case involving multiple organs". Pathology International. 30 (1): 109–20. doi:10.1111/j.1440-1827.1980.tb01308.x. PMID 7361545. S2CID 19074965.
  3. ^ "Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon". Retrieved 2007-06-11.
  4. ^ "Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary". Retrieved 2007-07-02.
  5. ^ "Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon". Retrieved 2007-07-02.