The liver is an organ that is part of the gastrointestinal tract and plays an important role in cleansing the blood of toxins that enter. Any impaired liver function entails significant health problems, manifested by various pathological symptoms.

What is toxic liver hepatitis and its causes

Toxic hepatitis is the result of intoxication of the body with poisons of industrial, agricultural, chemical and medicinal purposes. The action of these pathological agents for the body provokes the development of inflammation of the liver tissue with its subsequent necrosis.

This process may have an acute or chronic course, depending on the amount of poison ingested. Acute toxic hepatitis of the liver develops when the body is poisoned with a single high dose of poison or a small amount of it, but in high concentration.

Chronic liver damage occurs with prolonged intake of an insignificant amount of toxic substances in the body over a long period of time. The clinical manifestations of acute toxic hepatitis can occur in a short time. Symptoms in a chronic process can develop for a long time, gradually increasing.

The reasons for the development of toxic organ damage can be poisons, which are divided into several groups:

  • industrial poisons - a large group of toxic substances that enter the body when inhaling vapors, contact with skin, through the digestive tract when ingested.These are arsenic, phosphorus, pesticides, phenols, aldehydes, insecticides, chlorinated hydrocarbons;
  • Medicines - means that have anticonvulsant, antiviral, anti-inflammatory effects. Also in this group are anti-tuberculosis and sulfa drugs;
  • plant poisons - from various poisonous mushrooms (amanita, false honey, pale toadstool). From plants - dope ordinary, euphorbia, hogweed;
  • ethanol - various alcoholic drinks or alcohol-containing liquids.

When ingested in any way, poisons destroy cells. The result of this process is their death, which entails a dysfunction and fatty degeneration of the liver.

ICD Code 10

ICD Code 10 - International Classification of Diseases 10 Revision.

Classes MKB 10 / K00-K93 / K70-K77 / K71

This code encrypts toxic liver damage (K 71), which includes:

  • idiosyncratic (unpredictable) liver disease;
  • toxic (predictable) liver disease.

Disease options

Depending on the type of poisonous substance that has entered the body, the following types of toxic hepatitis are distinguished:

  • alcohol - develops with abuse of both hard liquors and alcohol substitutes;
  • medicinal - occurs when the recommended dose of the drug is exceeded or when it is taken for a long time;
  • professional - develops among employees working for a long time at enterprises with harmful working conditions;
  • Alimentary toxic hepatitis - occurs due to the ingress of elements of a toxic agent from an infected patient to a healthy person through the mouth in non-traditional intimate relationships.

Toxic hepatitis of any etiological factor can develop both in acute and in chronic form. The development of the acute process occurs from 2 to 5 days with a gradual increase in symptoms.

Symptoms and signs

If there is mild intoxication, the clinic of the disease will be blurry, and sometimes there may be no external manifestations of the pathological process.

In more serious cases of poisoning, the symptoms of hepatitis will manifest themselves in the following clinical picture:

  • the appearance of sharp pain in the right hypochondrium is a consequence of the rapid development of the inflammatory process in the liver;
  • worsening of the general condition - the appearance of weakness, headache, fever (temperature up to 38 degrees), aches throughout the body, nausea;
  • rapid development of icteric coloring of the skin and sclera of the eyeballs, accompanied by darkening of urine and lightening of feces, which has a greasy consistency. The development of jaundice is provoked by a violation of the outflow of bile along the excretory tract;
  • the appearance of a different type of hemorrhage - in the form of a small-pointed rash or "stars" on the skin, various types of bleeding (nasal, from the gums in the oral cavity) due to the toxic effect of the pathological agent on the vascular wall;
  • disorders of the central nervous system - in the form of inappropriate behavior, accompanied by increased excitability or lethargy and apathy.

The appearance of such acute symptoms requires prompt medical attention and, first of all, removal of poison from the body, which caused the development of pathological symptoms.

Important! The appearance of initial, even minor signs of the disease in contact with aggressive products in the workplace or at home requires the obligatory consultation of a doctor to exclude poisoning and prevent the development of severe liver pathology.

Chronic toxic hepatitis, developing with prolonged intake of a toxic agent in small doses, is manifested by the following symptoms:

  • periodic minor pain in the right hypochondrium, worse after eating;
  • severity in the liver;
  • a prolonged increase in temperature to subfebrile digits;
  • nausea, bitterness in the mouth;
  • dyspeptic phenomena in the form of decreased appetite, bloating, diarrhea;
  • the appearance of skin itching.

 

A characteristic feature of the clinical manifestations of chronic toxic hepatitis is a long course with periods of remission and exacerbations of the process. With a mild course of hepatitis, specific therapy gives a positive effect.

The lack of timely and high-quality therapy leads to various complications, such as:

  • liver failure;
  • swelling
  • coma;
  • cirrhosis of the liver.

Such a development of the pathological process poses a threat to the life of the patient.

Diagnostics

In the diagnosis of toxic hepatitis, it is of great importance to indicate the patient to contact with a certain type of poison, the duration of its action, as well as the severity of the clinical symptoms of poisoning. Laboratory and instrumental research determines the degree of damage to the liver tissue, as well as the interest of other organs in the pathological process.

Read also:fatty liver hepatosis

To clarify the diagnosis, the following tests and examinations are prescribed:

  • blood, urine for a general analysis;
  • blood chemistry;
  • coagulogram with the determination of prothrombin index;
  • according to indications, a study of biological fluids (saliva, urine, feces, blood) for the presence of toxic substances;
  • Ultrasound of the abdominal cavity;
  • CT, MRI;
  • dopplerometry of the vessels of the liver;
  • liver scintigraphy using radioisotopes;
  • liver biopsy followed by histological examination of the tissue.

These diagnostic studies allow us to determine not only inflammation of the liver tissue, but also to confirm the factor of the effect of toxic substances on the organ.

Treatment of toxic liver hepatitis

Hepatitis treatment is aimed at removing toxic substances from the body and removing manifestations of intoxication, which consists of the following measures:

  • the introduction of antidotes - with the established form of a toxic substance;
  • vitamin therapy - folic, ascorbic, nicotinic acid, group B;
  • intravenous saline and glucose;
  • hepatoprotectors - agents that restore the cellular structure of the liver;
  • hemodialysis - with the development of liver failure.

Diet as a treatment technique

In addition to drugs, an important factor in the treatment of toxic hepatitis is a diet, which involves removing additional burden on the liver in the form of certain products that enter the body.

A prerequisite for restoring the function of an organ is compliance with certain nutritional rules:

  • categorical refusal of alcohol and smoking;
  • fractional food intake up to 6 times a day in small portions;
  • exclusion from the use of fatty, fried, salty, spicy foods;
  • introduction to the diet of fasting days 1 time per week or per month, eating only fruits or vegetables;
  • compliance with the water regime in the form of daily intake of clean water up to 2 liters.

Dietary nutrition should contain carbohydrates to a greater extent, which provide energy, but the load on the stomach is negligible. Such a diet should be observed for a long time, that is, the usual diet before the disease should be replaced by a diet on an ongoing basis.

Consequences and forecasts

The mild course of toxic hepatitis responds well to treatment, provided that contact with a provoking factor is excluded and all the recommendations of a specialist, including dietary nutrition, are followed. In this case, the prognosis for life is positive.

The severe course of the pathology can be complicated by liver failure, cirrhosis and coma, when the normal cellular structure is replaced by adipose tissue, and the liver significantly loses its function.

In this case, toxic hepatitis acquires a progressive course with the presence of characteristic clinical symptoms and an unfavorable prognosis for the future, up to the death of the patient.

Prevention

To prevent the development of liver damage, it is necessary to adhere to a certain series of measures both at work and at home:

  • obligatory observance of safety measures at industrial enterprises with harmful working conditions;
  • taking medications only as prescribed by the doctor in a certain dosage and duration of therapy, avoiding self-medication;
  • exclusion from the use of alcoholic beverages, especially of dubious quality;
  • according to indications - taking hepatoprotectors;
  • desire for proper and balanced nutrition;
  • passing regular preventive examinations.

Compliance with the rules of prevention and careful attention to your health will prevent the intake of toxic substances in the body, prevent complications and severe liver damage.

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