What are the symptoms of liver cysts?

The liver is one of the important organs of the human body. If liver cysts occur, it will have a great impact on the patient's health. Patients will experience more obvious symptoms, such as nausea and vomiting, loss of appetite, jaundice, abdominal pain, etc. These symptoms may cause severe discomfort to patients, so patients can still discover them in time and should seek medical examination and treatment in time.

Liver cysts may be asymptomatic for a long time or for life due to their slow growth and are often discovered accidentally during B-ultrasound examination. The main clinical manifestations vary with the location, size, number of the cysts, whether they compress adjacent organs, and the presence or absence of complications. Simple liver cysts are relatively rare, and occur more often in females than in males, with a male-to-female ratio of 1:4. About 20% of patients have symptoms. The most common initial symptom is an increase in abdominal circumference. The initial symptoms can begin at any age, but most often occur between 20 and 50 years old. Other common clinical symptoms and signs are as follows:

1. Gastrointestinal symptoms

When the cyst enlarges and presses on the stomach, duodenum, and colon, it can cause symptoms such as fullness after meals, loss of appetite, nausea, and vomiting.

2. Abdominal pain

Large, heavy cysts may cause distending discomfort, dull pain, or mild, dull ache in the upper abdomen. Sudden onset of severe pain or symptoms and signs of peritonitis may indicate complications such as cyst bleeding or rupture, and may also cause chills and fever.

3. Abdominal mass

The discovery of an abdominal mass is the primary initial presentation in many patients.

4. Jaundice

Cysts near the porta hepatis that compress the hepatic duct or common bile duct can cause mild jaundice, which occurs less frequently, in only about 5% of cases.

5. Physical examination

The main sign is a mass felt in the abdomen that moves with respiration. The mass has a smooth surface and is usually hard, only partially cystic and fluctuating. Its location depends on where the cyst occurs, but most are located in the right upper abdomen.

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1. B-mode ultrasound

Type B ultrasound examination for diagnosing liver cysts has the advantages of high sensitivity, non-traumatic, simplicity and ease. Cysts <1 cm are also easy to detect with an accuracy rate of 98%. It can also determine the nature, location, size, number of cysts and the extent of liver involvement, making it the preferred examination method for this disease. The sonographic image of liver cysts shows round or oval liquid dark areas in the liver, with thin cyst walls, neat and smooth edges, and clear boundaries with surrounding tissues. The echoes of the posterior wall of the cyst and deep tissues are enhanced, and the wall is often accompanied by refracted acoustic shadows.

2. CT scan

CT examination can accurately show the location, size, range and nature of liver cysts, with a diagnosis rate of 98%. On CT scans, liver cysts appear as round or elliptical low-density areas with clear boundaries and uniform density, and show no enhancement after intravenous contrast imaging.