Normally the liver packs bilirubin into bile and sends it to the gut. It leaves the body as brown stool. When the liver fails, or bile cannot get out, bilirubin and bile salts back up into the blood. That one backup explains almost every sign. Click each sign to see where it comes from.
Where the sign shows up
The lit-up spot is where bilirubin, or the pressure behind it, is causing trouble.
Pick a sign to trace it back.
Pick a signbilirubin & the portal backup
① All about bile & bilirubin
② Blood backs up in the portal vein
Why it happens
One idea explains it all. Bilirubin and bile should leave through the gut. Instead they back up into the blood → yellow skin and eyes (jaundice), itchy skin (bile salts), dark urine (the kidneys dump it), and pale clay stools (none reaches the gut). Separately, a scarred liver dams the portal vein → a big liver, fluid in the belly, and bulging esophageal veins.