Prof. Constantine Karvellas: "Acute (Fulminant) Hepatic Failure"

Acute liver failure (ALF) is a rare syndrome resulting from an acute insult to the liver in patients without known underlying chronic liver disease. It is characterized by loss of synthetic function in the form of jaundice and coagulopathy and the development of hepatic encephalopathy. Multiorgan-failure (MOF) eventually develops. Significant improvements in outcome have occurred over the last 50 years, resulting not only from incremental improvements in specialist critical care and a step-change following the introduction of transplantation for this indication but also better and more effective treatment started early at the site of first presentation.