Cirrhosis Information and Courses from MediaLab, Inc.
These are the MediaLab courses that cover Cirrhosis and links to relevant pages within the course.
Learn more about laboratory continuing education for medical technologists to earn CE credit for AMT, ASCP, NCA, and state license renewal and recertification. Or get information about laboratory safety and compliance courses that deliver cost-effective OSHA safety training and continuing education to your laboratory's employees.
| Clinical Significance Liver damage or an obstructed bile duct allows conjugated bilirubin to enter the circulation and ultimately to appear in the urine. Patients with clinical jaundice due to hepatitis or cirrhosis will have bilirubinuria. If the jaundice is due to red cell destruction, there is an increase in unconjugated bilirubin which the kidneys cannot excrete. | View Page |
| Clinical Significance Urinary urobilinogen may be increased in the presence of a hemolytic process such as hemolytic anemia. It may also be increased with infectious hepatitis, or with cirrhosis. Comparing the urinary bilirubin result with the urobilinogen result may assist in distinguishing between red cell hemolysis, hepatic disease, and biliary obstruction. Urobilinogen is increased in hemolytic disease and urine bilirubin is negative. Urobilinogen is increased in hepatic disease, and urine bilirubin may be positive or negative. Urobilinogen is low with biliary obstruction, and urine bilirubin is positive. Reagent strips methods however, cannot distinguish normal urobilinogen from absent urobilinogen, as might be seen in complete biliary obstruction. | View Page |
| Urobilinogen is excreted in the urine in increased amounts in: (Choose ALL of the correct answers) | View Page |
| Increases in blood ammonia levels would be expected in which of the following conditions: | View Page |
| Elevation in conjugated bilirubin is most likely to be found in which of the following conditions: | View Page |
| Which of the following conditions will not produce a characteristic protein electrophoresis pattern: | View Page |
| Match these autoimmune diseases with their corresponding serological markers: | View Page |
| Increase Marrow Iron Stores Markely increased stainable iron is present in this biopsy. Iron stores may be increased in sideroblastic anemia, chronic infections, hemochromatosis, hemosiderosis due to numerous blood transfusions, chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis, and uremia. | View Page |
| What happens after HBV infection? After the initial infecting incident, HBV enters an incubation period lasting an average of 60 to 90 days.Following this period is the onset of acute hepatitis, which inflames the liver and causes prolonged illness, often progressing to jaundice.Most infected individuals recover completely, but about 10% get chronic hepatitis, which lasts for years.
Chronic hepatitis may result in cirrhosis or liver cancer. Both are potentially fatal. | View Page |
| The peripheral blood picture is consistent with each of the following conditions except: | View Page |
| The cells marked by blue arrows in the photograph are associated with all of the following conditions except: | View Page |
| Case History A 54 year-old man was brought to the clinic by his sister who was emphatic that her brother was "not taking care of himself."The patient had a previous gastrectomy and splenectomy. He also had a diagnosis of alcoholism, malnutrition, and hepatic cirrhosis. The following five pages discuss a variety of erythrocyte changes that have occurred as a result of his various conditions. | View Page |
| Pseudomacrocytes Another type of macrocyte can be seen in the center of this slide. Notice it appears larger than the lymphocyte but in contrast to megalocytes has an area of central pallor. These macrocytes are sometimes referred to as "pseudo macrocytes," since their size is the result of exaggerated flattening (leptocyte) and thus the presence of the central pallor. The MCV for this type of macrocyte is within normal range. Pseudomacrocytes can be seen in patients with cirrhosis of the liver, obstructive jaundice, post splenectomy and conditions that affect the red cell membrane. | View Page |
| More Acanthocytes Acanthocytes can also be seen in this slide. Alcoholic cirrhosis is the most common source of acanthocytes seen in blood smears in the laboratory (10-50%). Other sources are lipid disorders and a small number following splenectomy.
| View Page |