Jaundice
Jaundice (also known as icterus;[1] from the Greek word ίκτερος, attributive adjective: icteric) is a yellowish pigmentation of the skin, the conjunctival membranes over the sclerae (whites of the eyes), and other mucous membranes caused by hyperbilirubinemia (increased levels of bilirubin in the blood).[2] This hyperbilirubinemia subsequently causes increased levels of bilirubin in the extracellular fluid. Concentration of bilirubin in blood plasma is normally below 1.2 mg/dL (50µmol/L) leads to jaundice.[3] The term jaundice comes from the French word jaune, meaning yellow.
Jaundice is often seen in liver disease such as hepatitis or liver cancer. It may also indicate leptospirosis or obstruction of the biliary tract, for example by gallstones or pancreatic cancer, or less commonly be congenital in origin (e.g., biliary atresia).
Yellow discoloration of the skin, especially on the palms and the soles, but not of the sclera and mucous membranes (i.e. oral cavity) is due to carotenemia—a harmless condition[4] important to differentiate from jaundice.
Contents
• 1 Signs and symptoms
• 2 Differential diagnosis o 2.1 Pre-hepatic o 2.2 Hepatocellular o 2.3 Post-hepatic o 2.4 Neonatal jaundice
• 3 Pathophysiology o 3.1 Hepatic events
• 4 Diagnostic approach
• 5 Complications
• 6 References
• 7 External links
Signs and symptoms A 4-year-old boy with icteric (jaundiced) sclera which later proved to be a manifestation of hemolytic anemia due to G6PD deficiency following fava bean consumption.
The main symptom of jaundice is a yellow discoloration of the white part of the eyes and of the skin.
The conjunctiva of the eye are one of the first tissues to change color as bilirubin levels rise in jaundice. This is sometimes referred to as scleral icterus. However, the sclera themselves are not "icteric" (stained with bile pigment) but rather the conjunctival membranes that overlie them. The yellowing of the "white of the eye" is thus more properly
Jaundice is often seen in liver disease such as hepatitis or liver cancer. It may also indicate leptospirosis or obstruction of the biliary tract, for example by gallstones or pancreatic cancer, or less commonly be congenital in origin (e.g., biliary atresia).
Yellow discoloration of the skin, especially on the palms and the soles, but not of the sclera and mucous membranes (i.e. oral cavity) is due to carotenemia—a harmless condition[4] important to differentiate from jaundice.
Contents
• 1 Signs and symptoms
• 2 Differential diagnosis o 2.1 Pre-hepatic o 2.2 Hepatocellular o 2.3 Post-hepatic o 2.4 Neonatal jaundice
• 3 Pathophysiology o 3.1 Hepatic events
• 4 Diagnostic approach
• 5 Complications
• 6 References
• 7 External links
Signs and symptoms A 4-year-old boy with icteric (jaundiced) sclera which later proved to be a manifestation of hemolytic anemia due to G6PD deficiency following fava bean consumption.
The main symptom of jaundice is a yellow discoloration of the white part of the eyes and of the skin.
The conjunctiva of the eye are one of the first tissues to change color as bilirubin levels rise in jaundice. This is sometimes referred to as scleral icterus. However, the sclera themselves are not "icteric" (stained with bile pigment) but rather the conjunctival membranes that overlie them. The yellowing of the "white of the eye" is thus more properly