Steatorrhea in patients with liver disease.
Intestinal function was studied in 26 patients with seven types of acute and chronic liver disease, documented by liver biopsy. Steatorrhea, defined by a stool fat higher than 6 g. per day, was present in 18 of 23 consecutive patients studied, an incidence of 78.3%. Two patients with infectious hepatitis associated with steatorrhea studied previously were added and the 20 cases were analyzed. The malabsorption found was confined to fat and fat-soluble vitamins; stool excretion varied from 6.1 to 22 g. per day in the seven groups studied. No histological abnormality was seen on jejunal biopsy, serum vitamin B(12), D-xylose and Schilling tests were normal, and no radiological findings associated with malabsorption were detected in the small bowel. It is concluded that steatorrhea is a common finding in a wide variety of acute and chronic liver diseases and cannot be attributed to a primary defect of the small bowel.
D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase / Q000097:blood; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases / Q000097:blood; D001663:Bilirubin / Q000097:blood; D002446:Celiac Disease / Q000209:etiology* / Q000378:metabolism; D002855:Chromatography, Thin Layer; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006506:Hepatitis A / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D007408:Intestinal Absorption; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000032:analysis; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000150:complications*; D008111:Liver Function Tests; D008286:Malabsorption Syndromes / Q000175:diagnosis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010195:Pancreatitis / Q000175:diagnosis; D014805:Vitamin B 12 / Q000097:blood
D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases; D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase; D014805:Vitamin B 12; D001663:Bilirubin