Terme de Glossaire

Hepatic insufficiency is a consequence of cirrhosis of the liver, when the organ can longer perform its multiple functions. Signs of decompensation appear when more than 75% of the liver isn’t functioning anymore.
The symptoms are as follows:
- icterus: yellow discoloration of the skin (jaundice)
- ascites: accumulation of fluid in the abdomen.
- haemorrhaging: due to an insufficiency in the production of blood coagulation factors. Severe digestive haemorrhaging can also occur when varices rupture in the oesophagus, resulting in local hypertension caused by the cirrhosis.
- asthenia and a drop in the immune defence system by a fall in the production of proteins required for this function.
- encephalopathy:  neurological manifestations (confusion, convulsions, coma) associated with the accumulation of ammonia in the blood. This product of the degradation of proteins can no longer be detoxified by the liver and disrupts the functioning of the brain.