Related Experiment Videos
[Acute liver failure]
1División de Gastroenterología y Hepatología, Departmento de Medicina, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA. ekeeffe@stanford.edu
Revista De Gastroenterologia De Mexico
|September 21, 2005
Summary
Acute liver failure (ALF) is sudden liver dysfunction causing coagulopathy and encephalopathy. Management focuses on supportive care and assessing transplant needs.
Area of Science:
- Hepatology
- Internal Medicine
- Critical Care Medicine
Context:
- Acute liver failure (ALF), or fulminant hepatic failure, presents with rapid hepatic synthetic dysfunction.
- Defined by jaundice-to-encephalopathy timing: hyperacute (1-7 days), acute (8-28 days), subacute (29-60 days).
Purpose:
- To define acute liver failure, its causes, complications, and management strategies.
- To highlight the prognostic differences based on the onset of encephalopathy.
Summary:
- Etiologies include drug hepatotoxicity (acetaminophen, idiosyncratic reactions) and viral hepatitis, with many cases indeterminate.
- Key complications are metabolic disorders, coagulopathy, cerebral edema, renal failure, and infection.
- Hyperacute onset paradoxically shows higher spontaneous recovery; subacute onset has the worst prognosis.
Impact:
- Informs clinical decision-making for managing ALF patients.
- Emphasizes the critical role of intensive care and liver transplantation evaluation.
- Provides a framework for understanding ALF prognosis based on clinical presentation.