Liver Biopsy Glossary of Terms

1. Take the Liver Disease Quiz
2. Hepatitis Slideshow: A Visual Guide to Hepatitis
3. Take the Alcohol Quiz

Abdomen: The belly, that part of the body that contains all of the structures between the...

Abdominal: Relating to the abdomen, the belly, that part of the body that contains all of ...

Abdominal cavity: The cavity within the abdomen, the space between the abdominal wall and...

Abdominal pain: Pain in the belly. Abdominal pain can be acute or chronic. It may reflect ...

Abnormal: Outside the expected norm, or uncharacteristic of a particular patient.

Acetaminophen: A nonaspirin pain reliever or analgesic. Acetaminophen may be given alone t...

Ambulatory: Able to walk about, not bedridden or immobile.

Analysis: In psychology, a term for conversation-based therapeutic processes used to gain ...

Anesthesia: Loss of feeling or awareness, as when an anesthetic is administered before sur...

Anesthetic: A substance that causes lack of feeling or awareness, dulling pain to permit s...

Ascites: An abnormal accumulation of fluid within the abdomen. There are many causes of as...

Aspirin: Once the Bayer trademark for acetylsalicylic acid, now the common name for this a...

Autoimmune: Pertaining to autoimmunity, a misdirected immune response that occurs when the...

Autoimmune disease: An illness that occurs when the body tissues are attacked by its own i...

Autoimmune hepatitis: A disease in which the body's immune system attacks liver cells, cau...

Benign: Not malignant. A benign tumor is one that does not invade surrounding tissue or sp...

Bile: Bile is a yellow-green fluid that is made by the liver, stored in the gallbladder a...

Biliary: Having to do with the gallbladder, bile ducts, or bile. The biliary system itself...

Biopsy: The removal of a sample of tissue for examination under a microscope to check for ...

Blood pressure: The blood pressure is the pressure of the blood within the arteries. It is...

Blood transfusion: The transfer of blood or blood components from one person (the donor) i...

Cancer: An abnormal growth of cells which tend to proliferate in an uncontrolled way and, ...

Capsule: Capsule has many meanings in medicine including the following:

1. In medici...

Catheter: A thin, flexible tube.

Cell: The basic structural and functional unit of any living thing. Each cell is a small c...

Chest: The area of the body located between the neck and the abdomen. The chest contains t...

Chest pain: Pain in the chest that can be a result of many things, including angina, heart...

Cholecystectomy: Surgical removal of the gallbladder. This procedure may be done by laparo...

Chronic: In medicine, lasting a long time. A chronic condition is one that lasts 3 months ...

Cirrhosis: Liver disease characterized by irreversible scarring. Alcohol and viral hepatit...

Complication: In medicine, an unanticipated problem that arises following, and is a result...

Contrast: Short for "contrast media." Contrast media are X-ray dyes used to provide contra...

CT scan: Computerized tomography scan. Pictures of structures within the body created by a...

Diabetes: Refers to diabetes mellitus or, less often, to diabetes insipidus. Diabetes mell...

Diagnosis: 1 The nature of a disease; the identification of an illness. 2 A ...

Dizziness: Painless head discomfort with many possible causes including disturbances of ...

Duct: A walled passageway, such as a lymph duct, that carries fluid from one place to anot...

Elective: In medicine, something chosen (elected). An elective procedure is one that is ch...

Elective surgery: Surgery that is subject to choice (election). The choice may be made by ...

Enoxaparin: A low-molecular-weight version of heparin that acts like heparin as an anticoa...

Fever: Although a fever technically is any body temperature above the normal of 98.6 degr...

Fluoroscopy: An x-ray procedure that makes it possible to see internal organs in motion.

Gallbladder: A pear-shaped organ located below the liver that stores the bile secreted by ...

Heart: The muscle that pumps blood received from veins into arteries throughout the body. ...

Heart rate: The number of heartbeats per unit of time, usually per minute. The heart rate ...

Hematoma: A localized swelling that is filled with blood caused by a break in the wall of ...

Hemochromatosis: An inherited disorder characterized by abnormally high absorption of iron...

Hemodialysis: A medical procedure that uses a special machine (a dialysis machine) to fil...

Hepatic: Having to do with the liver.

Hepatic vein: One of the veins which drains blood from the liver.

Hepatitis: Inflammation of the liver, irrespective of the cause. Hepatitis is caused by a ...

Hepatitis B: Inflammation of the liver due to the hepatitis B virus (HBV), once thought t...

Hepatitis C: Inflammation of the liver due to the hepatitis C virus (HCV), which is usuall...

Hepatomegaly: An abnormally enlarged liver. Hepatomegaly can be caused by heart failure, b...

Hyaluronic acid: A viscous slippery substance that lubricates the joints, maintains the sh...

Ibuprofen: A nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) that is commonly used to treat pa...

Incision: A cut through skin or other tissue performed by a health care professional.

Indicate: In medicine, to make a treatment or procedure advisable because of a particular ...

Infection: The invasion and multiplication of microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, an...

Inferior: In anatomy, below or toward the feet. As opposed to superior. The liver is infer...

Inferior vena cava: A large vein that receives blood from the lower extremities, pelvis an...

Inflammation: A localized reaction that produces redness, warmth, swelling, and pain as a ...

Informed consent: The process by which a patient learns about and understands the purpose,...

Infuse: In medicine, to introduce a solution into the body through a vein. An infusion is ...

Injury: Harm or hurt. To harm, hurt, or wound. The word injure may be in physical or emot...

Internal jugular vein: The deeper of the two jugular veins in the neck that drain blood fr...

Interventional: Pertaining to the act of intervening, interfering or interceding with the ...

Interventional radiologist: A radiologist who uses image guidance methods to gain access t...

Intestine: The long, tubelike organ in the abdomen that completes the process of digestion...

Intraoperative: During surgery.

Iron: An essential mineral. Iron is necessary for the transport of oxygen (via hemoglobin ...

Iron overload: Iron overload can damage the heart, liver, gonads and other organs.

Jugular: The principal vein in the front of either side of the neck. The word comes from t...

Jugular vein: The jugular veins are in the neck and drain blood from the head, brain, face...

Laboratory: A place for doing tests and research procedures, and for preparing chemicals a...

Laparoscopic: 1. Pertaining to the procedure of laparoscopy.
2. Pert...

Lesion: An area of abnormal tissue change. Lesions vary in severity from harmless to serio...

Liver: The largest solid organ in the body, situated in the upper part of the abdomen on t...

Liver biopsy: A procedure in which a small sample of the liver is removed for the diagnosi...

Liver disease: Liver disease refers to any disorder of the liver. The liver is a large org...

Liver transplant: Surgery to remove a diseased liver and replace it with a healthy liver (...

Lobe: Part of an organ that appears to be separate in some way from the rest. A lobe may b...

Malignancy: A tumor that is malignant (cancerous), that can invade and destroy nearby tiss...

Malignant: 1. Tending to be severe and become progressively worse, as in malignant ...

Metabolic: Relating to metabolism, the whole range of biochemical processes that occur wit...

MRI: Magnetic resonance imaging.

Narcotic: 1. A drug that causes insensibility or stupor. A narcotic induces narcosi...

Nausea: Stomach queasiness, the urge to vomit. Nausea can be brought on by many causes, in...

Neck: The part of the body joining the head to the shoulders. Also, any narrow or constric...

Nurse: 1) A person trained, licensed, or skilled in nursing. 2) To feed an infant at the ...

Obesity: The state of being well above one's normal weight.

Onset: In medicine, the first appearance of the signs or symptoms of an illness as, for ex...

Operating room: A facility that is equipped for performing surgery. Abbreviated OR.

Organ: A relatively independent part of the body that carries out one or more special func...

Oxycodone: Oxycodone is the active ingredient in OxyContin. Oxycodone is an opioid, a clos...

Pain: An unpleasant sensation that can range from mild, localized discomfort to agony. Pa...

Pathology: The study of disease. Pathology has been defined as "that branch of medicine...

Percutaneous: Through the skin. For example, a percutaneous biopsy is a biopsy that is obt...

Percutaneous liver biopsy: A liver biopsy that is done through the skin with a needle. A p...

Radiologist: A physician specialized in radiology, the branch of medicine that uses ionizi...

Radiology: The medical specialty concerned with radiation for the diagnosis and treatment ...

Renal: Having to do with the kidney. For example, renal cancer is cancer of the kidneys.

Rib: One of the 12 paired arches of bone that form the skeletal structure of the chest wal...

Rib cage: The structure formed by the thoracic vertebrae and ribs, the sternum (breastbone...

Rule out: Term used in medicine, meaning to eliminate or exclude something from considera...

Scan: As a noun, the data or image obtained from the examination of organs or regions of...

Sedative: A drug that calms a patient, easing agitation and permitting sleep. Sedatives ge...

Shortness of breath: Difficulty in breathing. Medically referred to as dyspnea. Shortness ...

Shoulder: A structure made up of two main bones: the scapula (shoulder blade) and the hume...

Shoulder blade: The familiar flat triangular bone at the back of the shoulder. Known famil...

Surgeon: A physician who treats disease, injury, or deformity via operative or manual meth...

Surgery: The branch of medicine that employs operations in the treatment of disease or inj...

Symptom: Any subjective evidence of disease. In contrast, a sign is objective. Blood comin...

Therapy: The treatment of disease. Therapy is synonymous with treatment.

Tomography: The process for generating a tomogram, a two-dimensional image of a slice or s...

Transfusion: The transfer of blood or blood products from one person (the donor) into the ...

Transplant: The grafting of a tissue from one place to another, just as in botany a bu...

Tumor: An abnormal mass of tissue. Tumors are a classic sign of inflammation, and can be ...

Ultrasound: High-frequency sound waves. Ultra-sound waves can be bounced off tissues by us...

Uncertainty: "Medicine's ground state is uncertainty. And wisdom -- for both patients and ...

Vein: A blood vessel that carries blood that is low in oxygen content from the body back t...

Vena cava: The superior vena cava is the large vein which returns blood to the heart from ...

Vessel: A tube in the body that carries fluids. Examples of vessels are blood vessels and ...

Viable: Capable of life. For example, a viable premature baby is one who is able to surviv...

Viral: Of or pertaining to a virus. For example, if a person has a viral rash, the rash wa...

Viral infection: Infection caused by the presence of a virus in the body. Depending on...

Warfarin: An anticoagulant drug (brand names: Coumarin, Panwarfin, Sofarin) taken to prev...

X-ray: High-energy radiation with waves shorter than those of visible light. X-ray is used...