Plasma short-chain fatty acids in fulminant hepatic failure

The role of short-chain fatty acids in the pathogenesis of coma in patients with fulminant hepatic failure has been studied by gas-liquid chromatography. There was no correlation between the initial or the final plasma levels of short-chain fatty acids in these patients and the clinical outcome of their disease. A primary role for the short-chain fatty acids in the pathogenesis of coma in fulminant hepatic failure is unlikely.