Acute Liver Failure; Symptoms, Causes, Treatment, & Prognosis

What are the symptoms of acute liver failure?

Early symptoms of acute liver failure include fever, fatigue, anorexia, loss of appetite, and diarrhea.

Late symptoms are:

• Jaundice: a yellowish color of skin and eyes
• Fetor hepaticus: musty breath odor
• Ascites: Fluid accumulation in the abdomen
• Skin manifestations, such as palmar erythema (red palms), paper money skin, and white nails
• Endocrinal problems, such as gynecomastia in males and amenorrhea in females
• Cardiac dysfunction
• Anemia and bleeding tendency
• Hepatorenal syndrome
• Hepatic encephalopathy: disorientation and disturbing behavior

If you don’t get proper management, your condition will complicate by the following:

• Neurogenic Problems: disorientation and disturbed behavior due to affection of the brain by ammonia
• Brain swelling leading to increased pressure inside the brain, causing confusion
• Cardiac dysfunction: hypotension and circulatory failure
• Kidney failure, especially with acetaminophen toxicity
• Acid-base disturbance: hypoglycemia, hypokalaemia, and metabolic alkalosis
• Infections: bacterial and fungal sepsis
• Low blood sugar
• Bleeding and bleeding disorders due to decreased clotting factors
• Hepatic coma leads to death without immediate and urgent care.