Liver Failure (Hepatic Failure) Causes, Symptoms & Complications

What are the symptoms you will notice on a hepatic patient?

Manifestations of liver failure appear when the liver loses more than 75% of its normal function. Chronic liver failure can take several years asymptomatic (symptoms don’t appear yet) till the development of manifestations. So, the prognosis is worse.

Chronic liver failure can cause:

• Nausea
• Diarrhea
• Fever
• Loss of appetite
• Discomfort on the right side just below ribs (site of the liver)

After this stage, symptoms of liver failure become severe, as follows:

• Jaundice (yellowish discoloration of the skin and eyes)
• Fetor hepaticus; odor comes from the mouth because the liver fails to detoxify mercaptans.
• Easily bruising and bleeding
• Vomiting Blood due to varicocele.
• Ascites (accumulation of fluid in the abdomen)
• Skin manifestations: palmar erythema (red palmar skin), spider naevi (swollen blood vessels), paper money skin, and white nails
• Endocrinal manifestations:
  • In males: gynecomastia, female distribution of suprapubic hair, impotence, and testicular atrophy
  • In females: amenorrhea, sterility, atrophy of breast, and decreased libido
• Cardiovascular manifestations, such as cardiac dysfunction, clubbing, and cyanosis
• Hepatorenal syndrome (renal failure with liver disease)
• Disorientation (hepatic encephalopathy) occurs because the liver can’t get rid of ammonia. It accumulates and passes to the brain.