Does liver palm itch?

Palmar erythema is a common symptom in patients with chronic hepatitis. After suffering from palmar erythema, symptoms such as itching will occur. If you find congestion, plaques, etc. on your palms, you need to go to the endocrinology department of the hospital for examination in time. For patients with chronic hepatitis, if the condition is serious, they need to rest in bed and adjust their eating habits by eating more vegetables and fruits, reducing sugar intake, and eating less spicy, smoking and drinking.

Liver palm refers to the appearance of patchy congestion, red spots or plaques on the skin at the base of the thumb and little finger on the palm after suffering from chronic hepatitis, especially cirrhosis, which turns pale after pressure. Palmar erythema is one of the important signs of chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis, but it can also be seen in a small number of healthy people. Treatment should include rest, proper diet, finding the cause, actively treating liver disease and supplementing selenium.

Causes

The cause of liver palms is the same as that of spider nevi. It is mainly when liver cirrhosis occurs, due to decreased liver function, the metabolic inactivation function of estrogen is impaired to varying degrees, estrogen accumulates in the body, stimulates capillary congestion and dilation, and liver palms are formed over time. The imbalance of estrogen inactivation can also cause capillary dilation, menstrual disorders, testicular atrophy or male breast development in hepatitis patients. If the disease lasts for a long time, it can cause an increase in melanin in skin cells, leading to hepatic dark complexion.

Common diseases

Chronic hepatitis B, cirrhosis, hemochromatosis cardiomyopathy, hepatopulmonary syndrome, fulminant hepatic failure, etc.

Clinical manifestations

The main external manifestations of liver palms are: pink spots and plaques on the palms of both hands, the thenar and hypothenar eminences and fingertips, the color of cinnabar, which turn pale when pressure is applied, and turn red again after the pressure is released. The palms are normal in color, and a large number of expanded and connected punctate and sheet-like small arteries can be seen, not only on the palms, but also on the soles of the feet.

Differential Diagnosis

Common symptoms of palmar erythema include pink (fused or unfused) rouge-like spots at the base of the fingers, which fade when pressed and return to their original state after the pressure is removed. Please pay attention to the following conditions to differentiate:

1. Spider angiomas

Spider angioma is formed by a central arteriole and many tiny blood vessels radiating outward, and is named after its spider-like shape. Spider nevi are the result of dilation of small arteries on the skin and mucous membranes. They appear on the skin like a spider. The small ones are as small as the head of a pin, and the large ones can be more than 1 cm in diameter. The center is slightly raised. If you press the central erythema with the head of a pin, the surrounding capillaries will fade and recover after the pressure is removed. They usually appear in areas where the superior vena cava is distributed, such as the hands, face, neck, chest and shoulders.

2. Redness of the palms and soles

The skin at the thenar and hypothenar eminences at the base of the thumb and little finger appears patchy with congestion, or red spots and plaques, which turn pale when pressure is applied.

3. Polycythemia vera

It is a myeloproliferative disease characterized by an increase in red blood cells. It has a slow onset and symptoms may not appear until several years after the onset of the disease. Sometimes it is only discovered during an accidental blood test. Due to the increase in blood volume and blood viscosity, blood flow to organs throughout the body slows down and tissue hypoxia occurs. In the early stages, symptoms similar to neurosis such as headache, dizziness, fatigue, tinnitus, and blurred vision may appear. Later, there will be numbness and tingling in the limbs, sweating, visual impairment, skin itching and peptic ulcer. About half of the patients have hypertension, often with hepatomegaly, and most with splenomegaly. The patient's skin and mucous membranes are significantly red and purple, especially the cheeks, lips, tongue, nose, neck and extremities, and the conjunctiva is significantly congested.