[Hepatic failure and disorders of coagulation (author's transl)]

Disorders of coagulation are part of the clinical syndrome in hepatic failure. The pathophysiology of these disorders is discussed; analysis of coagulation defects in hepatic disorders does not help in differential diagnosis of hepatic diseases in the proper sense, but it is of considerable prognostic value. Therapy of hepatic diseases is discussed taking into account the pathophysiology of hepatic disorders; success of any therapeutic approach however is very limited, because of the bad prognosis of the underlying disease.