Bma Illustrated Medical Dictionary

fever and night sweats. In the second

stage, adult worms occupy the bile ducts.

Their presence may lead to cholangitis

and bile duct obstruction, which can

cause jaundice. Treatment with an anthel-

mintic drugmay be effective.

liver function testsTests of blood

chemistry that can detect changes in the

way the liveris making new substances

and breaking down and/or excreting old

ones. The tests can also show whether

liver cells are healthy or being damaged.

liver imagingTechniques that produce

images of the liver,gallbladder, bile ducts,

and blood vessels supplying the liver, to

aid the detection of disease. Ultrasound

scanning, CT scanning, and MRIare com-

monly used. Radionuclide scanningmay

reveal cysts and tumours and show bile

excretion. X–ray techniques include

cholangiography, cholecystography, and

ERCP(endoscopic retrograde cholangio-

pancreatography). In these procedures,

a contrast medium, which is opaque to

X-rays, is introduced to show abnormal-

ities in the biliary system. Angiography

reveals the blood vessels in the liver.

liver transplantReplacement of a dis-

eased liverwith a healthy liver removed

from a donor. Liver transplants are most

successful in the treatment of advanced

liver cirrhosisin people with chronic

active hepatitis or primary biliary cirr-

hosis. People who have primary liver

cancer are rarely considered for trans-

plantation because there is a high risk

that the tumour will recur.

During this procedure, the liver, gall-

bladder, and portions of the connected

blood and bilevessels are removed. The

donor organs and vessels are connected

to the recipient’s vessels. After the trans-

plant, the recipient is monitored in an

intensive careunit for a few days and

remains in hospital for up to 4 weeks.

living willA written declaration, signed

by an adult of sound mind, that instructs

the person’s doctor to withhold or with-

draw life-sustaining treatment if he or

she suffers from an incurable and termi-

nal condition. In the UK, such a document

has no legal force, but doctorswill nor-

mally respect patients’ wishes.

lobeOne of the clearly defined parts

into which certain organs, such as the

brain, liver, and lungs, are divided. The

term may also be used to describe any

projecting, flat, pendulous part of the

body, such as the earlobe.

lobectomyAn operation performed to

cut out a lobein the liver (see hepatec-

tomy, partial), lung (see lobectomy, lung),

or thyroid gland (see thyroidectomy).

lobectomy, lungAn operation to cut

out one of the lobesof a lung, usually to

remove a cancerous tumour.

lobotomy, prefrontalCutting of some

of the fibres linking the frontal lobes to

the rest of the brain. This operation was

formerly used to treat severe psychiatric

disorders; it is very rarely performed now.

lochiaThe discharge, after childbirth, of

blood and fragments of uterine lining

from the area where the placentawas

attached. The discharge is bright red for

the first 3 or 4 days and then becomes

paler. The amount of lochia decreases as

the placental site heals, and discharge

usually ceases within 6 weeks.

locked kneeA temporary inability to

move the kneejoint. A locked knee may

be caused by a torn cartilage or by loose

bodiesin the joint.

lockjawA painful spasm of the jaw

muscles that makes it difficult or impos-

sible to open the mouth. Lockjaw is the

most common symptom of tetanus.

locomotorRelating to movement of

the extremities, as in locomotor ataxia.

lofepramineA tricyclic antidepressant

drugthat is used in the long-term treat-

ment of depression.

LIVER FUNCTION TESTS LOFEPRAMINE

L

LIVER TRANSPLANT

SITE OF

INCISION

Transplanted
gallbladder

Transplanted

liver

Recipient’s

aorta

Bile

duct

Donor’s

blood vessels

Recipient’s blood vessels