Acute liver failure.

Acute liver failure is a multiorgan syndrome with dramatic clinical features and, often, a fatal outcome. It is characterized by the onset of coma and coagulopathy within 6 months, and usually in < 6 weeks, from onset of illness. Viral hepatitis, drug-related liver injury, and the alcohol-acetaminophen syndrome are the most common etiologies. Altered mental status accompanied by jaundice is a hallmark of acute liver failure. A unique feature is the evolution of increased intracranial pressure due to cerebral edema. The resulting cerebral ischemia and brainstem herniation account for approximately 50% of deaths in patients with acute liver failure. Mannitol therapy may successfully treat most patients with high intracerebral pressure. Most patients demonstrate features of the multiple organ failure syndrome, including a shock-like state, renal failure, and occasionally respiratory distress syndrome. Close monitoring of volume status is necessary, since administration of large quantities of fluid may be required. Infection is also common; most pathogens are gram-positive, and fungal infections are also seen. Because an optimum therapy for acute liver failure does not yet exist, liver transplantation should be considered early, before advanced levels of coma develop. Alternative, experimental treatment modalities include heterotopic liver grafting, administration of hepatocyte growth factor, use of an extracorporeal liver-assist device, and liver cell transplantation, but none of these has attained widespread use.