Acute Liver Failure

Topics

• What is Acute Liver Failure?
• What Causes Acute Liver Failure?
• Who is at Risk for Acute Liver Failure?
• Symptoms of Acute Liver Failure
• How is Acute Liver Failure Diagnosed?
• Acute Liver Failure Treatment
• Complications of Acute Liver Failure
• Acute Liver Failure Prevention
• Suggested Articles

What Causes Acute Liver Failure?

The most important aspect in individuals with acute liver failure is to identify the cause because prognosis in acute liver failure is dependent on the origin or cause.
Some of the many potential causes for acute liver failure:

• Acetaminophen poisoning (over-the-counter pain reliever) - Taking a very large dose of acetaminophen all at once or a smaller dose over a long period of time, is the leading cause of acute liver failure in the United States, especially in people with chronic liver disease.
• Prescription drugs – Anticonvulsants, antibiotics, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and drugs used to treat tuberculosis to name a few.
• Herbal supplements – Pennyroyal, ephedra, skullcap and kava are some of the herbal drugs and supplements that have been linked to Acute Liver Failure. Some fat burners used to increase metabolism have also been known to cause ALF.
• Viral hepatitis and other viruses – Hepatitis A, B, C (rarely) D and E with Hepatitis B accounting for the majority of cases. ALF actually occurs in less than 5% of hepatitis viral infections. Other viruses which may cause acute liver failure include Epstein-Barr virus, Yellow Fever and cytomegalovirus (virus in the herpes family).
• Shock to the liver – Hemorrhage, sepsis (overwhelming infection), heatstroke, heart failure and severe dehydration.
• Toxins – Poisonous mushrooms such as Amanita phalloides, carbon tetrachloride (a manufactured chemical used in cleaning fluids, pesticides and spot removers), chloroform and rat poisons.
• Metabolic diseases – Rare metabolic diseases such as Wilson's Disease, acute fatty liver of pregnancy and Reye's syndrome (a deadly disease affecting all organs in the body, especially the liver and thebrain)  infrequently cause acute liver failure
• Vascular diseases – Blockages in the veins of the liver such as portal vein thrombosis (a blood clot or narrowing of the portal vein, which brings blood to the liver from the intestines), Budd-Chiari syndrome (blockage of the vein that carries blood away from the liver), and veno-oclusive disease (blockage of the very small - microscopic -veins in the liver).
• Cancer – Liver cancer or cancer that begins somewhere else in the body and then spreads to the liver.
• Unknown – Many cases of ALF have no apparent cause.

What is Acute Liver Failure? Who is at Risk for Acute Liver Failure?