What is scleral icterus? You will find the answer to this question in this article. You will also learn about what diseases this phenomenon is typical for and how it should be properly treated.
General information
Icteric skin and sclera is a kind of pigmentation of the epidermis and mucous membranes that take on a yellow color.
Depending on the causes of such a pathological process, the shades of yellow that stain the sclera or skin can be lemon, pale yellow, and these can be mixed with dark green and olive colors.
What diseases are observed?
What diseases are characterized by scleral icterus? This unpleasant symptom manifests itself under the following conditions:
- Mechanical jaundice, provoked by narrowing of the bile ducts and a decrease in the outflow of bile. As a rule, such a disease occurs due to blockage of the mentioned channels with stones. Also, mechanical restriction of bile flow can be caused by compression of the pathways by neoplasms, tumors, or enlarged lymph nodes. In addition, such jaundice is oftentriggered by pancreatic cancer.
- Hemolytic jaundice caused by an excess of bile pigments and destruction of red blood cells. Such icterus of the sclera is not associated with diseases of the bile ducts and liver. Most often, such a violation is observed in malaria, hereditary hemolytic jaundice and pernicious anemia.
- Parenchymal icterus of the sclera and skin is not explained by blockage of the gallbladder ducts, but by damage to the liver itself. The main causes of this pathological condition may be acute hepatitis and cirrhosis.
The process of development of jaundice
Why do some people develop icterus? The reasons for the occurrence of such a state may be related to the belonging of people to those groups that we described above.
According to reports of experts, at the biochemical level, this phenomenon is explained by an increase in the concentration of bilirubin in the blood. However, the external manifestations of jaundice can be regulated not only by the content of this substance in the plasma, but also by the thickness of the subcutaneous fat layer of the patient. For example, a large thickness of deposits significantly reduces the visual intensity of the disease, while a small one, on the contrary, increases it.
As you know, bilirubin enters the bloodstream after its absorption from blocked bile ducts or dysfunction of liver cells. Thus, without entering the bile, this substance is absorbed directly into the plasma, resulting in icterus.
Many experts believe that such pigmentation does not appearuntil the moment when bilirubin in the blood does not exceed the norm twice. In other words, the appearance of jaundice indicates a significant progress of the disease.
It should also be noted that there is such a thing as "false icterus". Such icterus develops not due to an increased content of bilirubin in the blood, but due to increased concentrations of quincarine and I-carotene. However, this case belongs to a completely different group of diseases.
Clinical manifestations
How does such a pathological condition as scleral icterus manifest itself? You can find a photo of this anomalous phenomenon in the materials of the article under consideration.
External manifestations and symptoms of icteric skin and mucous membranes are very obvious and simple. With the above diseases, the sclera and epidermis turn yellow.
One cannot but say that with mechanical jaundice of an exacerbated type, this phenomenon is characterized as golden pigmentation. By the way, subsequently it acquires a greenish tint. What is it connected with? This condition occurs due to the oxidation of bilirubin.
In the event that the existing disease is not treated or treated ineffectively, the color of the sclera and skin gradually changes to brown-green or even close to black.
As for hemolytic icterus, on the contrary, it is rather weakly expressed. Most often, this pathology is manifested by pallor of the skin, which borders on a yellowish tint.
The treatment processhysteria
Surely it is not necessary to explain that the complex therapy of jaundice is closely related to the treatment of diseases that are the causes of the development of icteric skin and sclera.
It should be especially noted that there are drugs that can artificially reduce the level of bilirubin in the blood plasma, and, as a result, eliminate the external symptoms of jaundice. But at the same time, it must be remembered that such a peculiar struggle with icterus is not a cardinal solution to the problem. Taking these medications is only a temporary measure.
