nonhemolytic jaundice

nonhemolytic jaundice

[-hē′məlit′ik]

Etymology: L, non + Gk, haima, blood, lysein, to loosen; Fr, jaune, yellow

a form of jaundice that is caused by a liver disease rather than the destruction of red blood cells.

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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).