liver failure

liver failure

Clinical medicine Liver insufficiency that results in death, requires a liver transplant, or is characterized by recovery after encephalopathy, or while awaiting a transplant; also defined as a condition with ≥ 3 of following: albumin < 3.5 g/dL; prolonged prothrombin time–PT; jaundice; ascites; PT is expressed as a ratio vs value from pooled normal plasma, is considered prolonged when the values are > the upper limit of normal–ie, 0.84-1.18; jaundice is defined as a BR concentration ≥ 2X upper normal range; ascites is ID'd by  ultrasonography Epidemiology 27,000 die/yr–US Etiology Viral  hepatitis; drugs–eg, valproic acid, INH, halothane, acetaminophen, mushroom, phosphorous, aspirin, etc; alcohol; idiopathic; myocarditis, heart surgery, cardiomyopathy, Budd-Chiari syndrome; metabolic disorders–eg, galactosemia, tyrosinemia, iron storage, mitochondrial disease, fatty acid oxidation Clinical Jaundice, fatigue, weight loss, if extreme, renal failure, hepatic encephalopathy Complications Cerebral edema, infection, renal failure, bleeding Treatment Symptomatic support; liver transplantation; possibly in the future, bioartificial liver

McGraw-Hill Concise Dictionary of Modern Medicine. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

liver failure

The end stage of severe liver disease in which liver function is so impaired that it cannot meet the metabolic needs of the body. There is JAUNDICE, an accumulation of toxic substances in the blood such as ammonia, fatty acids and nitrogenous compounds causing a sweet musty odour in the breath, nausea and vomiting and brain damage with restlessness, disorientation, coarse tremor of the hands, sometimes aggressive outbursts, convulsions, weakness, coma and death.

Collins Dictionary of Medicine © Robert M. Youngson 2004, 2005