Stauffer syndrome
Encyclopedia
Stauffer syndrome
Syndrome
In medicine and psychology, a syndrome is the association of several clinically recognizable features, signs , symptoms , phenomena or characteristics that often occur together, so that the presence of one or more features alerts the physician to the possible presence of the others...

was described initially by Maurice H. Stauffer, M.D., a gastroenterologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. This condition is a constellation of signs and symptom
Symptom
A symptom is a departure from normal function or feeling which is noticed by a patient, indicating the presence of disease or abnormality...

s of liver
Liver
The liver is a vital organ present in vertebrates and some other animals. It has a wide range of functions, including detoxification, protein synthesis, and production of biochemicals necessary for digestion...

 dysfunction that arise due to presence of renal cell carcinoma
Renal cell carcinoma
Renal cell carcinoma is a kidney cancer that originates in the lining of the proximal convoluted tubule, the very small tubes in the kidney that filter the blood and remove waste products. RCC is the most common type of kidney cancer in adults, responsible for approximately 80% of cases...

, and, more rarely, in connection with other malignant neoplasms. The hepatic abnormalities are not due to tumor infiltration of the liver or intrinsic liver disease; they instead reflect the presence of a paraneoplastic syndrome
Paraneoplastic syndrome
A paraneoplastic syndrome is a disease or symptom that is the consequence of the presence of cancer in the body, but is not due to the local presence of cancer cells. These phenomena are mediated by humoral factors excreted by tumor cells or by an immune response against the tumor...

.

Stauffer syndrome causes abnormal liver function tests, especially those that reflect the presence of cholestasis
Cholestasis
In medicine, cholestasis is a condition where bile cannot flow from the liver to the duodenum. The two basic distinctions are an obstructive type of cholestasis where there is a mechanical blockage in the duct system such as can occur from a gallstone or malignancy and metabolic types of...

, i.e. abnormal bile
Bile
Bile or gall is a bitter-tasting, dark green to yellowish brown fluid, produced by the liver of most vertebrates, that aids the process of digestion of lipids in the small intestine. In many species, bile is stored in the gallbladder and upon eating is discharged into the duodenum...

flow. The symptoms and signs resolve if the renal cell carcinoma (or another associated tumor) is successfully ablated.

Eponym

Dr. Stauffer first characterized this syndrome in 1961, with the original name of "nephrogenic hepatomegaly."
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