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The liver is thought to be responsible for up to 500 separate functions, usually in combination with other systems and organs. Currently, no artificial organ or device is capable of reproducing all the functions of the liver. Some functions can be carried out by liver dialysis, an experimental treatment for liver failure. The liver also ...
The liver plays the major role in producing proteins that are secreted into the blood, including major plasma proteins, factors in hemostasis and fibrinolysis, carrier proteins, hormones, prohormones and apolipoprotein:
The main liver cells are called hepatocytes; however, there are other cells that can be observed in a liver sample such as Kupffer cells (macrophages). [2] The liver is the biggest gland of the body. It has a wide variety of functions that range from the destruction of old blood cells to the control of the whole metabolism of macromolecules. [3]
Liver failure is the inability of the liver to perform its normal synthetic and metabolic functions as part of normal physiology. Two forms are recognised, acute and chronic (cirrhosis). [ 1 ] Recently, a third form of liver failure known as acute-on-chronic liver failure ( ACLF ) is increasingly being recognized.
In histology (microscopic anatomy), the lobules of liver, or hepatic lobules, are small divisions of the liver defined at the microscopic scale. The hepatic lobule is a building block of the liver tissue , consisting of portal triads, hepatocytes arranged in linear cords between a capillary network, and a central vein .
A liver segment is one of eight segments of the liver as described in the widely used Couinaud classification (named after Claude Couinaud) in the anatomy of the liver.This system divides the lobes of the liver into eight segments based on a transverse plane through the bifurcation of the main portal vein, [1] arranged in a clockwise manner starting from the caudate lobe.
A liver support system or diachysis is a type of therapeutic device to assist in performing the functions of the liver. Such systems focus either on removing the accumulating toxins (liver dialysis), or providing additional replacement of the metabolic functions of the liver through the inclusion of hepatocytes to the device (bioartificial liver device).
Microscopic section through a small portal vein branch inside the liver (×250 magnified) The portal venous system is responsible for directing blood from parts of the gastrointestinal tract to the liver. Substances absorbed in the small intestine travel first to the liver for processing before continuing to the heart.