What is the Difference Between Hepatomegaly and Fatty Liver

The key difference between hepatomegaly and fatty liver is that hepatomegaly is a medical condition due to enlargement of the liver, while fatty liver is a medical condition due to the storage of extra fat in the liver.

Liver is the largest solid organ in the human body. It performs numerous vital functions, including the removal of toxins from the blood supply of the body, maintaining healthy blood sugar levels, and regulating blood clotting. Moreover, it also performs hundreds of other vital functions that are very important for the survival of humans. Hepatomegaly and fatty liver are two medical conditions that affect the structure and function of the liver.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Hepatomegaly
3. What is Fatty Liver
4. Similarities – Hepatomegaly and Fatty Liver
5. Hepatomegaly vs Fatty Liver in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Hepatomegaly vs Fatty Liver

What is Hepatomegaly?

Hepatomegaly is a medical condition that is due to the enlargement of the liver. An enlarged liver is one that is bigger than the normal size. Normally, the liver swells as a symptom of another health condition like hepatitis. The liver performs a lot of vital jobs. It helps to clean the blood by getting rid of harmful chemicals. It also makes bile that breaks down fat from food. Moreover, the liver stores sugar known as glucose, which gives people the required energy whenever they need it. Therefore, an enlarged liver can cause lethal complications.

The symptoms of an enlarged liver are feeling of fullness, discomfort in the belly, yellowing of the skin or eyes (jaundice), fatigue, weakness, nausea, and weight loss. Hepatomegaly can be caused due to obesity, infections (hepatitis B and C), medications, consumption of a lot of alcohol, toxins, autoimmune disease, metabolic syndrome, genetic disorders, cysts, tumors, congestive heart failure, hepatic vein thrombosis, and veno-occlusive disease. Hepatomegaly is usually diagnosed through physical examination, CT scan, MRI, ultrasound, and liver biopsy. Losing weight, cutting back on alcohol use, eating a healthy diet, and getting more physical activities are some of the treatments.

What is Fatty Liver?

Fatty liver is a medical condition occurring due to the storage of extra fat in the liver. Most people show no symptoms. However, in some cases, it can lead to liver damage. The symptoms of fatty liver disease include abdominal pain, nausea, loss of appetite, weight loss, yellowish skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice), swollen abdomen and legs (edema), and extreme tiredness and weakness. Moreover, there are two types of fatty liver disease: alcoholic and non-alcoholic. Alcoholic fatty liver is due to heavy drinking. On the other hand, fatty liver disease can be caused by obesity and diabetes. The other causes of fatty liver include metabolic syndrome (insulin resistance, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high triglyceride) and taking some prescription medicines such as amiodarone, diltiazem, tamoxifen, and steroids.

Fatty liver can be diagnosed through medical history, physical examination, blood test, ultrasound, CT scan, liver biopsy, and FibroScan®. Furthermore, fatty liver is treated by avoiding alcohol, losing weight, taking medications to control diabetes, cholesterol, and triglycerides, and taking vitamin E and thiazolidinediones.

What are the Similarities Between Hepatomegaly and Fatty Liver?

• Hepatomegaly and fatty liver are two medical conditions that affect the structure and function of the liver.
• Both conditions can cause lethal complications such as liver damage.
• These conditions can be caused due to heavy alcohol consumption.
• Both conditions can be diagnosed through physical examination and imaging tests.
• They are treated through specific medications and lifestyle changes.

What is the Difference Between Hepatomegaly and Fatty Liver?

Hepatomegaly is a medical condition due to the enlargement of the liver, while the fatty liver is a medical condition due to the storage of extra fat in the liver. Thus, this is the key difference between hepatomegaly and fatty liver. Furthermore, hepatomegaly is caused by obesity, infections (hepatitis B and C), medications, consumption of a lot of alcohol, toxins, autoimmune disease, metabolic syndrome, genetic disorders, cysts, tumors, congestive heart failure, hepatic vein thrombosis, and veno-occlusive disease. On the other hand, fatty liver is caused by heavy alcohol consumption, obesity, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and taking some prescription medicines.

The below infographic presents the differences between hepatomegaly and fatty liver in tabular form for side-by-side comparison.

Summary – Hepatomegaly vs Fatty Liver

The liver is the largest solid organ in the human body, doing various important functions. Hepatomegaly and fatty liver are two medical conditions that cause problems in the liver. Hepatomegaly refers to the enlargement of the liver, while fatty liver refers to the storage of extra fat in the liver. So, this summarizes the difference between hepatomegaly and fatty liver.

Reference:

1. Stuart, Annie. “Hepatomegaly: Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, and Treatment.” WebMD.
2. “Everything You Need to Know about Fatty Liver.” Healthline, Healthline Media.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Hepatomegaly” By Anandselvam85 – Own work (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease1” By Nephron – Own work (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia