Acute-on-Chronic Liver Failure

Acute-on-Chronic Liver Failure

Hepatocellular damage, secondary to a variety of insults (e.g. infectious agents, alcohol, exogenous drugs, autoimmunity, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis), can result in chronic liver disease, if the underlying etiology is not effectively treated. This condition is characterized histopathologically by increasing degrees of fibrosis and cirrhosis, and frequently remains subclinical or undiagnosed. Often as a result of a secondary insult, the liver can decompensate, leading to a life-threatening disorder known as acute-on-chronic liver failure or ACLF. Two types of acute-on-chronic liver failure have been addressed in clinical studies using ELAD: severe alcoholic hepatitis (sAH) and acute flares of hepatitis B.