cholestatic jaundice

jaundice /jaun·dice/ (jawn´dis) icterus; yellowness of the skin, scleras, mucous membranes, and excretions due to hyperbilirubinemia and deposition of bile pigments.

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acholuric jaundice  jaundice without bilirubinemia, associated with elevated unconjugated bilirubin that is not excreted by the kidney.

acholuric familial jaundice  hereditary spherocytosis.

breast milk jaundice  elevated unconjugated bilirubin in some breast-fed infants due to the presence of 5-β-pregnane-3-α-20-β-diol in breast milk, which inhibits glucuronyl transferase conjugating activity, or to dehydration.

cholestatic jaundice  that resulting from abnormal bile flow in the liver.

hemolytic jaundice  that due to increased production of bilirubin from hemoglobin under conditions causing accelerated degradation of erythrocytes.

hepatocellular jaundice  that due to injury to or disease of liver cells.

hepatogenic jaundice , hepatogenous jaundice that due to disease or disorder of the liver.

leptospiral jaundice  Weil's syndrome.

mechanical jaundice  obstructive j.

neonatal jaundice , jaundice of the newborn icterus neonatorum.

nuclear jaundice  kernicterus.

obstructive jaundice  that due to blocking of bile flow.

physiologic jaundice  mild icterus neonatorum lasting the first few days of life.

retention jaundice  that due to inability of the liver to dispose of the bilirubin provided by the circulating blood.

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cholestatic jaundice

n.

Jaundice caused by thickened bile or bile plugs in the small biliary passages of the liver.

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cholestatic jaundice

[-stat′ik]

a yellowing of the skin caused by thickening of bile, obstruction of hepatic ducts, or changes in liver cell function.

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jaundice

yellowness of skin, sclerae, mucous membranes, and excretions due to hyperbilirubinemia and deposition of bile pigments. Called also icterus. It is usually first noticeable in the sclera.

The pigment causing jaundice is called bilirubin. It is derived from hemoglobin that is released when erythrocytes are hemolyzed and therefore is constantly being formed and introduced into the blood as worn-out or defective erythrocytes are destroyed by the body. Normally the liver cells absorb the bilirubin and secrete it along with other bile constituents. If the liver is diseased, or if the flow of bile is obstructed, or if destruction of erythrocytes is excessive, the bilirubin accumulates in the blood and eventually will produce jaundice. Determination of the level of bilirubin in the blood is of value in detecting elevated bilirubin levels at the earliest stages before jaundice appears, when liver disease or hemolytic anemia is suspected.

Jaundice in a horse's oral mucosa. By permission from Knottenbelt DC, Pascoe RR, Diseases and Disorders of the Horse, Saunders, 2003

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acholuric jaundice

jaundice without bilirubinemia, associated with elevated unconjugated bilirubin that is not excreted by the kidney.

cholestatic jaundice

that resulting from abnormality of bile flow in the liver.

hematogenous jaundice

hemolytic jaundice.

hemolytic jaundice

jaundice associated with hemolytic anemia in which most of the bilirubin is unconjugated. Called also retention jaundice, prehepatic jaundice.

hemorrhagic jaundice

leptospirosis.

hepatocellular jaundice

jaundice caused by injury to or disease of the liver cells.

jaundice index

see icteric index.

nonhemolytic jaundice

that due to an abnormality in bilirubin metabolism.

obstructive jaundice

that due to blockage of the flow of bile, resulting in conjugated hyperbilirubinemia. Called also regurgitation jaundice.

physiological jaundice

mild icterus neonatorum during the first few days after birth.

regurgitation jaundice

obstructive jaundice (above).

toxic jaundice

see hepatocellular jaundice (above).