Generality
Liver failure is a severe discomfort that affects the liver.
"Insufficiency" is synonymous with "inability" and refers to the malfunctioning of the organ.
Specifically, we speak of liver failure when the liver is NO longer able to turn the metabolic functions to which it is responsible.
Liver failure is divided into two types: acute and chronic.
Acute liver failure is characterized by a very rapid development and in some cases it can be reversible. Chronic, on the other hand, is progressive and is associated, in the most advanced form, with cirrhosis and carcinoma; rarely these two complications of the chronic form can be reversed.
The possible causes of hepatic insufficiency are many: pathogenic, pharmacological or toxic, hereditary, autoimmune, etc.
The symptoms, clinical signs and complications of liver failure can be of various kinds; certain factors are present in both acute and chronic forms, while others are more specific.
The treatment is linked to the triggering agent and can vary considerably according to the related complications, such as: portal hypertension, ascites, encephalopathy, haemorrhages, etc.
Acute Hepatic Failure
Acute liver failure is characterized by a very rapid development. In this case, the dysfunction affects up to 80-90% of the cells present in the liver.
It typically occurs without any pre-existing disease.
The evolutionary pace of acute liver failure affects prognosis; the faster it is, the greater the chances of a bad outcome.
