Hepatomegaly

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Hepatomegaly (an increase in liver size) can result from a vast range of pathologies :

malignancy / cellular infiltrate
- multiple metastases
- lymphoma(s)
- leukaemia(s)
- hepatocellular carcinoma
- extramedullary haematopoiesis
- systemic mastocytosis
acquired hepatic conditions
- fatty infiltration
- cirrhosis : early
- secondary haemochromatosis
- hepatic amyloidosis
- hepatic veno-occlusive disease
- sarcoidosis
- infectious mononucleosis
- primary biliary cirrhosis
acquired non hepatic conditions
- right heart failure
congenital anomalies
- biochemical
  - glycogen storage disease
  - primary haemochromatosis
  - Gaucher's disease
  - certain mucopolysaccharidoses : e.g. Hunter syndrome
  - Niemann-Pick disease
- anatomical
  - biliary atresia
syndromes
- Zellweger syndrome

Radiographic features

Assessment of liver size in commonly made on ultrasound or CT, although gross hepatomegaly may be apparent on plain film imaging.

A liver that is longer than 15.5cm in the mid-clavicular line is considered enlarged, however in practice assessment is often subjective. Features that support hepatomegaly include extension of the right lobe inferior to the lower pole of the right kidney and rounding of the hepatic inferior border¹.

Differential diagnosis

Riedel's lobe (normal variant)

~~-Hepatomegaly (an increase in liver size) can result from a vast range of pathologies :<ul>~~
+Hepatomegaly (an increase in <a title="liver" href="/articles/liver">liver</a> size) can result from a vast range of pathologies :<ul>
~~-<li>certain <a href="/articles/mucoploysaccharidoses">mucopolysaccharidoses</a> : e.g. <a href="/articles/hunter-syndrome">Hunter syndrome</a>~~
+<li>certain <a href="/articles/mucopolysaccharidoses-2">mucopolysaccharidoses</a> : e.g. <a href="/articles/hunter-syndrome">Hunter syndrome</a>

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Hepatomegaly

Updates to Article Attributes

Radiographic features

Differential diagnosis

See also

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