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How do you know if your liver is swollen?

Symptoms Abdominal pain. Fatigue. Nausea and vomiting. Yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyes (jaundice)

mayoclinic.org - Enlarged liver - Symptoms and causes - Mayo Clinic

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Overview

Enlarged liver Open pop-up dialog box Close Enlarged liver Enlarged liver An enlarged liver can have many possible causes. An enlarged liver is one that's bigger than normal. The medical term is hepatomegaly (hep-uh-toe-MEG-uh-le). Rather than a disease, an enlarged liver is a sign of an underlying problem, such as liver disease, congestive heart failure or cancer. Treatment involves identifying and controlling the cause of the condition.

Symptoms

An enlarged liver might not cause symptoms.

When enlarged liver results from liver disease, it might be accompanied by:

Abdominal pain

Fatigue

Nausea and vomiting

Yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyes (jaundice)

When to see a doctor

Make an appointment with your doctor if you have symptoms that worry you. There is a problem with information submitted for this request. Review/update the information highlighted below and resubmit the form. From Mayo Clinic to your inbox Sign up for free, and stay up to date on research advancements, health tips and current health topics, like COVID-19, plus expertise on managing health. Email ErrorEmail field is required ErrorInclude a valid email address Learn more about Mayo Clinic’s use of data. To provide you with the most relevant and helpful information, and understand which information is beneficial, we may combine your email and website usage information with other information we have about you. If you are a Mayo Clinic patient, this could include protected health information. If we combine this information with your protected health information, we will treat all of that information as protected health information and will only use or disclose that information as set forth in our notice of privacy practices. You may opt-out of email communications at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link in the e-mail. Subscribe! Thank you for subscribing! You'll soon start receiving the latest Mayo Clinic health information you requested in your inbox. Sorry something went wrong with your subscription Please, try again in a couple of minutes Retry

Causes

The liver is a large, football-shaped organ found in the upper right portion of your abdomen. The size of the liver varies with age, sex and body size. Many conditions can cause it to enlarge, including:

Liver diseases

Cirrhosis

Hepatitis caused by a virus — including hepatitis A, B and C — or caused by infectious mononucleosis

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

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Alcoholic fatty liver disease

A disorder that causes abnormal protein to accumulate in your liver (amyloidosis)

A genetic disorder that causes copper to accumulate in your liver (Wilson's disease)

A disorder that causes iron to accumulate in your liver (hemachromatosis)

A disorder that causes fatty substances to accumulate in your liver (Gaucher's disease)

Fluid-filled pockets in the liver (liver cysts)

Noncancerous liver tumors, including hemangioma and adenoma

Obstruction of the gallbladder or bile ducts

Toxic hepatitis

Cancers

Cancer that begins in another part of the body and spreads to the liver

Leukemia

Liver cancer

Lymphoma

Heart and blood vessel problems

Blockage of the veins that drain the liver (Budd-Chiari syndrome)

Heart failure

Inflammation of the tissue surrounding the heart (pericarditis)

Risk factors

You're more likely to develop an enlarged liver if you have a liver disease. Factors that can increase your risk of liver problems include: Excessive alcohol use. Drinking large amounts of alcohol can be damaging to your liver. Drinking large amounts of alcohol can be damaging to your liver. Large doses of medicines, vitamins or supplements. Taking larger than recommended doses of vitamins, supplements, or over-the-counter (OTC) or prescription medicines can increase your risk of liver damage. Acetaminophen overdose is the most common cause of acute liver failure in the United States. Besides being the ingredient in OTC pain relievers such as Tylenol, it's in more than 600 medications, both OTC and prescription. Know what's in the medications you take. Read labels. Look for "acetaminophen," "acetam" or "APAP." Check with your doctor if you're not sure what's too much. Herbal supplements. Certain supplements, including black cohosh, ma huang and valerian, can increase your risk of liver damage. Certain supplements, including black cohosh, ma huang and valerian, can increase your risk of liver damage. Infections. Infectious diseases, viral, bacterial or parasitic, can increase your risk of liver damage. Infectious diseases, viral, bacterial or parasitic, can increase your risk of liver damage. Hepatitis viruses. Hepatitis A, B and C can cause liver damage. Hepatitis A, B and C can cause liver damage. Poor eating habits. Being overweight increases your risk of liver disease, as does eating unhealthy foods, such as those with excess fat or sugar.