Acute liver failure

Abstract

Acute liver failure (ALF) is a life-threatening condition with many possible causes. In developed countries, common causes include paracetamol overdose, toxin exposure (e.g. mushrooms) and idiosyncratic drug reactions. Viral hepatitis is much more common in developing countries, although must be considered in any location. The clinical syndrome of ALF is remarkably independent of the cause and comprises the following key features: jaundice, encephalopathy with cerebral oedema, coagulopathy, vasodilatory state, renal dysfunction, hypoglycaemia and immune dysfunction. Management of the patient with severe ALF is threefold in aim: (i) prevent further liver damage by treating the underlying caus..