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World J Gastroenterol. Nov 7, 2013; 19(41): 7069-7077
Published online Nov 7, 2013. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v19.i41.7069
Advances in the management of acute liver failure
Da-Wei Wang, Yi-Mei Yin, Yong-Ming Yao
Da-Wei Wang, Department of ICU, Weihai Municipal Hospital, Weihai 264200, Shandong Province, China
Yi-Mei Yin, Department of Ultrasound, Weihai Municipal Hospital, Weihai 264200, Shandong Province, China
Yong-Ming Yao, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Burns Institute, First Hospital Affiliated to the Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100048, China
Author contributions: Wang DW and Yin YM wrote the manuscript; Yao YM reviewed the drafts and made significant revisions.
Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 81130035; the National Basic Research Program of China, No. 2012CB518102
Correspondence to: Yong-Ming Yao, MD, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Burns Institute, First Hospital Affiliated to the Chinese PLA General Hospital, No. 51 Fucheng Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100048, China. c_ff@sina.com
Telephone: +86-10-66867394 Fax: +86-10-68989955
Received: May 9, 2013
Revised: August 5, 2013
Accepted: September 13, 2013
Published online: November 7, 2013
Core Tip

Core tip: Acute liver failure (ALF) is a dramatic clinical syndrome of abrupt loss of liver function in a patient with a previously healthy liver. The causes of ALF encompass a wide variety of toxic, viral, metabolic, vascular and autoimmune insults to the liver. ALF patients develop serious complications, and death is mostly due to sepsis, followed by multiple organ failure, and intracranial hypertension. However, disease outcome has been improved through etiological treatment and advanced intensive care management. For most severely affected patients who fail to recover after treatment, liver transplantation may be life-saving.