Management options in fulminant hepatic failure.
The diagnosis of FHF carries with it a high mortality rate. Though the early results of OLT for FHF are encouraging, some have called for caution as these results are in a select population and may be similar to the optimistic early reports of now-discredited therapies. However, OLT differs fundamentally from all other interventions and, as such, it is ethically unjustified to withhold potentially life-saving therapy from patients with a predicted mortality in excess of 60%. Therefore, patients with FHF should be transferred at an early stage to an experienced liver unit where the option of liver transplantation can be considered.
Kramer
D J
DJ
Department of Anesthesiology/Critical Care Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pennsylvania.
Aggarwal
S
S
Martin
M
M
Darby
J
J
Obrist
W
W
Rosenbloom
A
A
Murray
G
G
Linden
P
P
Miro
A
A
D058186:Acute Kidney Injury / Q000209:etiology; D001778:Blood Coagulation Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D002493:Central Nervous System Diseases / Q000209:etiology; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000209:etiology; D006439:Hemodynamics; D006801:Humans; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000379:methods; D009747:Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D012119:Respiration