Anasarca, also known as "extreme generalized edema

Edema

Edema or oedema ; both words from the Greek , oídēma "swelling"), formerly known as dropsy or hydropsy, is an abnormal accumulation of fluid beneath the skin or in one or more cavities of the body that produces swelling...

" is a medical  condition

Condition

-Logic:* Logical conditional* Necessary and sufficient condition, condition of another means that the former statement is true if and only if the latter is true-Computer programming:* Conditions, a generalization of exceptions in exception-handling...

 characterised by widespread swelling of the skin

Skin

-Dermis:The dermis is the layer of skin beneath the epidermis that consists of connective tissue and cushions the body from stress and strain. The dermis is tightly connected to the epidermis by a basement membrane. It also harbors many Mechanoreceptors that provide the sense of touch and heat...

 due to effusion of fluid into the extracellular space.

It is usually caused by liver failure

Liver failure

Acute liver failure is the appearance of severe complications rapidly after the first signs of liver disease , and indicates that the liver has sustained severe damage . The complications are hepatic encephalopathy and impaired protein synthesis...

 (cirrhosis

Cirrhosis

Cirrhosis is a consequence of chronic liver disease characterized by replacement of liver tissue by fibrosis, scar tissue and regenerative nodules , leading to loss of liver function...

 of the liver) or renal failure

Renal failure

Renal failure or kidney failure describes a medical condition in which the kidneys fail to adequately filter toxins and waste products from the blood...

/disease and severe malnutrition/protein deficiency. The increase in salt and water retention caused by low cardiac output can also result in anasarca as a long term maladaptive response.

It can also be created from the administration of exogenous

Exogenous

Exogenous refers to an action or object coming from outside a system. It is the opposite of endogenous, something generated from within the system....

 intravenous fluid.

Certain plant-derived anticancer chemotherapeutic

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancer with an antineoplastic drug or with a combination of such drugs into a standardized treatment regimen....

 agents, such as docetaxel, cause anasarca through a poorly understood capillary leak syndrome

Capillary leak syndrome

Capillary leak syndrome is a rare medical conditioncharacterized by self-reversing episodes during which the endothelial cells which line the capillaries are thought to separate for a few days, allowing for a leakage of fluid from the circulatory system to the interstitial space, resulting in a...

.