Acute liver failure overview
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Overview
Acute liver failure is the appearance of severe complications rapidly after the first signs of liver disease (such as jaundice), and indicates that the liver has sustained severe damage (loss of function of 80-90% of liver cells). The complications are hepatic encephalopathy and impaired protein synthesis (as measured by the levels of serum albumin and the prothrombin time in the blood).
Definition : Evidence of coagulation abnormality, usually an International Normalized Ratio (INR) �1.5, and any degree of mental alteration (encephalopathy) in a patient without preexisting cirrhosis and with an illness of <26 weeks duration.