Acute Liver Failure

Acute Liver Failure

Acute Liver Failure (ALF) is a relatively rare condition in which liver function rapidly deteriorates in an individual without a known pre-existing liver disease. The patient experiences an altered mental state, blood clotting deficiencies and infection. The most frequent causes of ALF are drug or toxin-induced liver injury, viral hepatitis, and autoimmune disease. In the U.S., an estimated 2,000 cases of ALF occur each year and in China, 25,927 drug induced acute liver failure from 2012 to 2014 (about 8,642 per year).³ The current standard of care is liver transplantation. Patients with ALF receive priority on the liver transplant list, although they tend to progress very rapidly and may succumb to their disease before a suitable organ becomes available.