Acute liver failure

PubMed, the Internet portal of biomedical and life sciences literature, indexed an interesting article, entitled “Acute liver failure-medical viewpoints.” (Schweiz Rundsch Med Prax. 2006 Nov 29;95(48):1873-7). Authors are Schattenberg JM, Galle PR and Schuchmann M, from the Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik, Johannes-Gutenberg-Universitat, Mainz. Acute liver failure is a rare disease that can cause death in the majority of untreated cases. Sudden loss of liver function in the absence of a preexisting liver disease is considered the true form and has to be distinguished from impaired function following exacerbation of an underlying liver disease (acute or chronic failure). Common causes include acute viral hepatitis, drug induced liver injury (DILI) and toxins. The loss of the excretory and synthetic function of the liver marks the clinical presentation and results in icterus, coagulopathy and encephalopathy. Additionally impairment of renal function and sepsis occur and contribute to the high mortality of this disease. To access the full abstract of the article, click here.