alcohol, liver, jaundice, alcoholism, behavior, self-control, addiction, cirrhosis, portal hypertension, CT scan, liver failure, ascites, art, hepatic cirrhosis, size, shape, the common vein, art in anatomy, Ashley Davidoff MD

Alcoholism and Cirrhosis and Liver Failure

The left sided image shows the CT scan of a normal liver and the right the consequence of alcoholism.  The liver is the biggest structure that you can appreciate on the CT scan and is triangular in shape. The scan on the right shows a person with liver cirrhosis, jaundice and ascites indicating portal hypertension and liver failure.  Alcohol pickles and scars the liver making it look like a knobby shrunken prune.  The classical beer belly may be caused by centripetal distribution of fat, or as in this case accumulation of ascitic fluid.

Description

The left sided image shows the CT scan of a normal liver and the right the consequence of alcoholism.  The liver is the biggest structure that you can appreciate on the CT scan and is triangular in shape. The scan on the right shows a person with liver cirrhosis, jaundice and ascites indicating portal hypertension and liver failure.  Alcohol pickles and scars the liver making it look like a knobby shrunken prune.  The classical beer belly may be caused by centripetal distribution of fat, or as in this case accumulation of ascitic fluid.