What is diffuse hepatocellular disease?

Diffuse disease occurs as the hepatocytes are damaged and liver function decreases. Disease processes that affect the liver diffusely include infections, fatty infiltration, and liver fibrosis. The sonographic appearance of the liver varies depending on the cause.

What does diffuse hepatic steatosis mean?

Diffuse hepatic steatosis, also known as fatty liver, is a common imaging finding and can lead to difficulties assessing the liver appearances, especially when associated with focal fatty sparing.

Can an infection cause lesions on the liver?

The liver is the most common site of E multilocularis infection, with over 90\% of infected patients having liver involvement. The lesions may be single or multiple. Approximately 70\% of these lesions develop in the right hepatic lobe.

What is hepatic parenchyma in liver?

The liver parenchyma is composed of small lobules of a roughly hexagonal shape with portal tracts at the apices. Inside the lobules, the hepatocytes are arranged as cords of cells connecting the portal tracts in the periphery to the central veins (terminal branch of hepatic veins).

What is hepatic parenchymal disease?

Diffuse parenchymal liver diseases, including hepatic steatosis, fibrosis, metabolic diseases, and hepatitis cause chronic liver injury and may progress to fibrosis and eventually hepatocellular carcinoma.

Is diffuse hepatic steatosis serious?

Although diffuse liver fat or steatosis was previously considered to be a relatively benign and self-limiting entity, it is now known to commonly progress through necroinflammatory changes (known as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis or NASH) to cirrhosis.

What does it mean to have a heterogeneous liver?

1 One of the main causes of heterogeneous echogenicity of the liver is chronic liver disease/cirrhosis (Figure 1 of the supplementary material). Other common conditions leading to heterogeneous echogenicity are patchy steatosis and diffuse tumor infiltration.

What is the function of liver parenchyma?

Hepatocytes (liver parenchymal cells) perform the liver’s metabolic functions: Formation and excretion of bile as a component of bilirubin metabolism (see Overview of bilirubin metabolism.