What does liver cyst mean and how can it be treated?

Liver cysts are commonly known as liver cysts. Liver cysts can cause cirrhosis, and in severe cases can lead to ascites, enlarged liver, redness and swelling of the liver, and patients will also have symptoms of fever and pain. Liver cysts not only seriously affect liver function, but also cause complications in patients. Patients need surgery or temporary medication, which can prevent the aggravation of liver cysts.

Symptoms and signs

There is usually no hepatitis and a background of cirrhosis; AFP is negative and liver function is usually normal. Usually, careful ultrasound imaging can make a clear diagnosis.

Congenital small hepatic cysts are often asymptomatic and usually do not develop symptoms until they grow to a considerable size, including upper abdominal distension, pain, abdominal mass, and liver enlargement. If accompanied by infection, there will be inflammatory manifestations such as fever and pain.

Treatment

Liver cysts will neither affect liver function nor develop into liver cancer, so this type of cyst usually does not need to be treated, and only regular check-ups are required. But if it grows really large and makes the patient feel uncomfortable, it can be treated.

There is no need for surgery during treatment. Under the guidance of ultrasound, the doctor can insert a thin needle into the cyst, draw out the fluid in the cyst with the thin needle, and then inject pure alcohol to prevent the cyst from growing again. If the cyst grows very large and the patient feels a lot of pain, surgical treatment can be considered to remove the cyst together with the cyst membrane to relieve the patient's pain.

For isolated hepatic cysts, unless complications such as cyst rupture, cyst pedicle torsion or intracystic hemorrhage occur, emergency surgery should be performed. Otherwise, elective surgery should be scheduled based on the size and location of the cyst and the patient's general condition and subjective symptoms.

Asymptomatic solitary liver cysts occasionally discovered during physical examinations can be temporarily treated conservatively and regularly observed using ultrasound examinations, and one needs to be vigilant against the occurrence of malignant transformation. It is best to perform surgical treatment for large liver cysts with symptoms, because conservative treatments such as puncture and fluid extraction are generally prone to recurrence and may bring bacterial contamination. Polycystic liver disease should usually be treated non-surgically. Since the lesions involve the entire liver, the disease cannot be cured unless a liver transplant is performed. However, once polycystic liver disease compresses the chest and abdomen due to liver enlargement and affects breathing and circulation, surgery should be considered to relieve pressure.