Hepatic failure

Hepatic failure
ICD-10	K72.9
DiseasesDB	5728
MeSH	D017093

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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

Synonyms and keywords: Liver failure; fulminating hepatic failure

Overview

Liver failure is the inability of the liver to perform its normal synthetic and metabolic function as part of normal physiology.

Classification

Two forms are recognised:

• Acute liver failure - development of hepatic encephalopathy (confusion, stupor and coma) and decreased production of proteins (such as albumin and blood clotting proteins) within four weeks of the first symptoms (such as jaundice) of a liver problem. "Hyperacute" liver failure is said to be present if this interval is 7 days or less, while "subacute" liver failure is said to be present if the interval is 5-12 weeks.
• Chronic liver failure usually occurs in the context of cirrhosis, itself potentially the result of many possible causes, such as excessive alcohol intake, hepatitis B or C, autoimmune, hereditary and metabolic causes (such as iron or copper overload or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease).

Prognosis

The King's College criteria (KCC) may be used.

Contraindicated medications

Severe hepatic failure is considered an absolute contraindication to the use of the following medications:

• Carvedilol
• Diclofenamide
• Dronedarone
• Nebivolol
• Rosuvastatin
• Simvastatin

The ALFSG index is a newer option that may be more accurate.

See Also

• Hepato-biliary diseases
• Hepatitis

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