Acute Liver Failure

Few conditions in medicine are more dramatic or more devastating than acute liver failure. Severe liver-cell dysfunction strikes previously well people suddenly, and many of them die. Acute liver failure embraces a number of conditions whose common thread is severe injury of hepatocytes or massive necrosis. Loss of hepatocyte function sets in motion a multiorgan response, and death may occur even when the liver has begun to recover. This article highlights recent advances in our understanding and management of this unique condition. Altered mental status (hepatic encephalopathy) and coagulopathy in the setting of an acute hepatic disease define acute liver…