jaundice - Causes of jaundice, Neonatal jaundice, Jaundiced Eye

A condition in which there is a rise in the amount of bile pigments (bilirubin and biliverdin) in the blood. These stain the skin and other tissues, including the whites of the eyes, a greenish-yellow colour. Jaundice arises as a result of (1) excessive breakdown of the blood pigment, haemoglobin (haemolytic jaundice), when abnormally large amounts of bile pigments are produced, saturating the capacity of the liver to excrete them, (2) severe liver disease, when the liver's capacity to eliminate bile pigments from the blood to the intestine is reduced, and pigments accumulate in the body, and (3) obstruction to the passage of bile pigments out of the liver through the common bile duct, such as a gallstone.

Jaundice, NOS
Classifications and external resources

Yellowing of the skin and sclera caused by Hepatitis A.
ICD-9	782.4
DiseasesDB	7038
MedlinePlus	003243

Jaundice, also known as icterus (attributive adjective: "icteric"), is a yellowing of the skin, conjuctiva (clear covering over the sclera, or whites of the eyes) and mucous membranes caused by increased levels of bilirubin in the human body (or the body of another red blooded animal).

Causes of jaundice

When red blood cells die, the heme in their hemoglobin is converted to bilirubin in the spleen and in the hepatocytes in the liver. Pre-hepatic or hemolytic causes, where too many red blood cells are broken down, hepatic causes where the processing of bilirubin in the liver does not function correctly, and post-hepatic or extrahepatic causes, where the removal of bile is disturbed.

Pre-hepatic

Pre-hepatic (or hemolytic) jaundice is caused by anything which causes an increased rate of hemolysis (breakdown of red blood cells). Stools become darker (deep brown)

Hepatic

Hepatic causes include acute hepatitis, hepatotoxicity and alcoholic liver disease, whereby cell necrosis reduces the liver's ability to metabolise and excrete bilirubin leading to a build up in the blood. Less common causes include primary biliary cirrhosis, Gilbert's syndrome (a genetic disorder of bilirubin metabolism which can result in mild jaundice, which is found in about 5% of the population) and metastatic carcinoma. Jaundice seen in the newborn, known as neonatal jaundice, is common, occurring in almost every newborn as hepatic machinery for the conjugation and excretion of bilirubin does not fully mature until approximately two weeks of age. 2 units but variable (Except in children)

Post-hepatic

Post-hepatic (or obstructive) jaundice, also called cholestasis, is caused by an interruption to the drainage of bile in the biliary system.

Neonatal jaundice

Neonatal jaundice is usually harmless: this condition is often seen in infants around the second day after birth, lasting till day 8 in normal births, or to around day 14 in premature births.

Jaundiced Eye

It was once believed persons suffering from the medical condition jaundice saw everything as yellow.