Diagnosis: Subacute congestion: nutmeg liver
Description: The yellow areas correspond to the liver parenchyma. The red areas correspond to the blood-filled dilated sinusoids.
The alteration of the human liver in consequence of a massive backlog of blood within the organ due to lacking venous drainage is called congested liver.
A congested liver is a secondary disease. The cause for its development is a failure of the venous system which is resopnsible for the outflow of the venous blood from the liver.
Here, right heart failure plays an important role as underlying condition. In this case, the heart is no longer able to forward the arriving blood into the pulmonary circulation. This results in a backlog inthe dependent organ systems, which, at the beginning, significantly concerns the liver.
Right heart failure can be caused by valvular defects, tumors, chronic pulmonary diseases, as well as embolisms..
(Source: ©PathoPic)
