There are many types of liver disease, including:

• Bile duct disorders. Several conditions can affect the bile ducts (tubes connecting the gallbladder and liver to the small intestine). Some babies are born with bile duct disorders. Other types of disorders develop in adulthood, such as primary biliary cirrhosis or sclerosing cholangitis. Gallstones can pass into the biliary system and cause inflammation and scarring.
  
  
• Budd Chiari syndrome. Disorder that causes narrowing and clotting in the hepatic vein, the major vein that leaves the liver.
  
  
• Cirrhosis. Scarring of the liver, resulting in tissue and cell damage. Advanced cases may lead to death.
  

  

• Cystic disease of the liver. Cysts can develop in the liver or in the bile ducts as a result of birth defects or disease.
  
  
• Fatty liver. The buildup of fat cells in the liver. There are two types of fatty liver, alcoholic and nonalcoholic. Fatty liver not associated with alcohol use is called nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).
  
  
• Gilbert syndrome. Common and benign (harmless) or mild condition involving genetically inherited deficiency in an enzyme that conjugates bilirubin (substance formed from the breakdown of red blood cells that give bile its color).
  
  
• Glycogen storage diseases. Birth defects that change the way the liver breaks down glycogen, the stored form of glucose (blood sugar) contained in the liver that the body can use for energy.
  
  
• Hemochromatosis. Genetic condition in which the body absorbs too much iron and stores it in the liver and other organs.
  
  
• Hepatitis. Inflammation of the liver. There are two main types of hepatitis, viral and nonviral. Autoimmune hepatitis is a progressive inflammation of the liver associated with an abnormality of the immune system. Advanced cases may lead to death.
  
  
• Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP). A temporary liver disorder that can develop in pregnant women. ICP is marked by intense itching and sometimes jaundice. It can complicate the pregnancy but is rare in the United States.
  
  
• Liver cancer. The growth of malignant cells in the liver. This form of cancer is often fatal, but survival rates have doubled in recent decades.
  
  
• Porphyrias. A group of diseases that affect the production of heme, the chemical that colors blood. Some types are inherited conditions.
  
  
• Reye's syndrome. A systemic disease, most common in children, that increases pressure within the brain and causes a buildup of fat in the liver. A viral infection typically precedes Reye's syndrome. There is no known cure, but recovery can occur if early diagnosis prevents or limits brain damage and other complications.
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• Wilson's disease. Inherited disorder that causes too much copper to accumulate in the liver and other vital organs.