Prognostic indicators in fulminant hepatic failure

Because of the inhomogeneous prognosis in fulminant hepatic failure, prognostic criteria are required which help to establish the indication for liver transplantation as a successful therapeutic procedure. In our study of 33 patients with fulminant hepatic failure (94% viral hepatitis, 67% hepatitis B), serum bilirubin > 320 or < 160 mumol/L, serum creatinine > 110 mumol/L, prothrombin time < 15% of the normal value and duration of jaundice until onset of encephalopathy > 7 days indicated a fatal outcome. When criteria described by O'Grady et al. were used, only limited predictability was achieved. This, as well as the frequently contradictory results of the few prognostic studies published so far, is probably due to the regional differences in the etiology and the different clinical courses of fulminant hepatic failure.