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 that occur 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 that can as a result of acute liver failure are hepatic encephalopathy, cerebral edema, infections, bleeding disorders, and kidney failure.
The definition of acute liver failure is as follows: Evidence of a 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. [1]
Historical Perspective
Trey and Davidson coined the term fulminant hepatic failure in 1970 to describe this reversible condition of severe liver injury. They described a condition of onset of encephalopathy within 8 weeks of appearance of first symptoms, and an absence of pre-existing liver disease.[2].