The Liver Clinic at Dr.Kamakshi Memorial Hospital provides a complete range of services that include diagnosis, treatment, surgical and intervention procedures, and follow-up for patients with liver disorders. Our team of specialists, nurses and medical professionals are dedicated to provide care for all the liver patients with complete medical technology and equipment.
The following Services are Offered at DR.KMH
Liver Transplantation
Preventative Care for Liver Disease
Comprehensive Care for Liver Diseases (Jaundice, Hepatitis, Fatty Liver, Cirrhosis)
Advance Diagnostic and Therapeutic Endoscopy
Advanced Hepatobiliary Surgery
Advanced Laparoscopic Surgery
Laparoscopic Liver Resection
Laparoscopic Whipples Resection
THE LIVER AND ITS FUNCTIONS
The liver is the largest solid organ in the body. It removes toxins from the bodys blood supply, maintains healthy blood sugar levels, regulates blood clotting, and performs hundreds of other vital functions. It is located beneath the rib cage in the right upper abdomen.
Key Facts
The liver filters all of the blood in the body and breaks down poisonous substances, such as alcohol and drugs.
The liver also produces bile, a fluid that helps digest fats and carry away waste.
The liver consists of four lobes, which are each made up of eight sections and thousands of lobules (or small lobes).
FUNCTIONS OF THE LIVER
The liver is an essential organ of the body that performs over 500 vital functions. These include removing waste products and foreign substances from the bloodstream, regulating blood sugar levels, and creating essential nutrients. Here are some of its most important functions
Albumin Production
Albumin is a protein that keeps fluids in the bloodstream from leaking into surrounding tissue. It also carries hormones, vitamins, and enzymes through the body.
Bile Production
Bile is a fluid that is critical to the digestion and absorption of fats in the small intestine.
Filters Blood
All the blood leaving the stomach and intestines passes through the liver, which removes toxins, byproducts, and other harmful substances.
Regulates Amino Acids
The production of proteins depends on amino acids. The liver makes sure amino acid levels in the bloodstream remain healthy.
Regulates Blood Clotting
Blood clotting coagulants are created using vitamin K, which can only be absorbed with the help of bile, a fluid the liver produces.
Resists Infections
As part of the filtering process, the liver also removes bacteria from the bloodstream.
Stores Vitamins and Minerals
The liver stores significant amounts of vitamins A, D, E, K, and B12, as well as iron and copper.
Processes Glucose
The liver removes excess glucose (sugar) from the bloodstream and stores it as glycogen. As needed, it can convert glycogen back into glucose
WHAT IS CIRRHOSIS OF THE LIVER?
Cirrhosis of the liver is a late-stage liver disease, in which healthy liver tissue has been gradually replaced with scar tissue. This is a result of long-term, chronic hepatitis. Hepatitis is inflammation in your liver, which has many causes. When inflammation is ongoing, your liver attempts to repair itself by scarring. But too much scar tissue prevents your liver from working properly. The end stage is chronic liver failure.
4 STAGES OF CIRRHOSIS
Stage I: Steatosis. The first stage of liver disease is characterized by inflammation of the bile duct or liver.
Stage II: Scarring (fibrosis) of the liver due to inflammation.
Stage III: Cirrhosis.
Stage IV: Liver failure or advanced liver disease or hepatic failure.
CAUSES OF LIVER CIRRHOSIS
A wide range of diseases and conditions can damage the liver and lead to cirrhosis
MOST COMMON CAUSES
Long-term alcohol abuse
Ongoing viral hepatitis (hepatitis B, C and D).
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, a condition in which fat accumulates in the liver.
COMPLICATION OF LIVER CIRRHOSIS
High blood pressure in the veins that supply the liver. This condition is known as portal hypertension. Cirrhosis slows the regular flow of blood through the liver. This increases pressure in the vein that brings blood to the liver.
Swelling in the legs and abdomen
Enlargement of the spleen.
Blood vomiting
Infections
Buildup of toxins in the brain leading to altered brain function
Jaundice
Increased risk of liver cancer
Renal Failure
PREVENTION
Lower your risk of cirrhosis by taking these steps to care for your liver
Alcohol should be consumed only in moderation
Eat a healthy diet
Maintain a healthy weight.
Reduce your risk of hepatitis B and C.
LIVER TRANSPLANTATION
Liver transplantation involves the replacement of the whole of a patient's liver with that from a donor. Most donations occur from people who have an acute terminal illness and who had expressed an intention to donate their organs after death, a process called cadaveric donation. A healthy person may also donate a part of their liver to a relative in a process called Live Related Liver Donation (LRLD).
Patients will normally spend 2-4 weeks in hospital to recover after transplant surgery, and a full recovery can take up to six months. They will have to take a number of new medications to help look after their new liver. In particular, they will need to be on life-long immunosuppression medication to prevent rejection.
A patient's general health and physical condition needs to be sufficiently robust to successfully undergo transplant surgery, so it is important to consider the potential need for transplantation earlier rather than later in patients with advanced liver disease, whilst they are still relatively well.
WHY ONE NEED LIVER TRANSPLANT ?
The most common reason for needing a liver transplant is when a patient's own liver has extensive and irreversible damage and is starting to fail. This is called end-stage liver disease or decompensated cirrhosis. A liver specialist can use liver disease severity scoring systems to predict when a patient may need a transplant, though good clinical judgment and experience are also vital. Liver transplantation is also sometimes performed as an operation to treat some forms of primary liver cancer, called hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
This operation is carried out with the intent of curing the cancer. Rarely, liver transplantation is used a life-saving procedure in patients with acute liver failure, a condition that can deteriorate rapidly over a number of days, and which if untreated can lead to multi-organ failure and death.
TYPES OF LIVER TRANSPLANT
There are three main ways a liver transplant can be carried out
Living Donor liver transplant
A living-donor liver transplant is a surgery in which a portion of the liver from a healthy living person is removed and placed into someone whose liver is no longer working properly. The donor's remaining liver regrows and returns to its normal size, volume, and capacity within a couple of months after the surgery. At the same time, the transplanted liver portion grows and restores normal liver function in the recipient.
Deceased-donor liver transplant
During a deceased donor transplant, surgeons will remove your diseased or injured liver and replace it with the deceased donor's healthy liver. Adults usually receive the entire/whole liver from a deceased donor. In the case of pediatric patients, the surgeons may split a deceased donor's liver into two parts.
Split Liver Transplant
A liver is removed from the deceased donor, and it split into two pieces; each piece is transplanted into a different person, where they will grow to a normal size.
Liver specialists at Dr. KMH have extensive expertise in the management of liver transplant patients.
WE STRICTLY FOLLOW THE ETHICAL PRACTICES IN THE TRANSPLANTATION SURGERIES.
Doctor's Gallery
SELECT * FROM tbl_navigation_details where status='Active' And (speciality_name like 'hepatology%' OR subspeciality_name like 'hepatology%') ORDER BY menu_name asc;