title: [Acute liver failure. How much diagnostic work-up and therapy does my patient need?].
abstract: Acute liver failure is a multisystem disease with predominantly sudden and severe hepatic injury and hepatic encephalopathy caused by apoptotic or necrotic hepatocyte damage. The clinical challenge in patients with acute liver failure is to promptly identify those with poor prognosis and refer them for emergency liver transplantation. This review article highlights the main aspects of decision making in the setting of acute liver failure, summarizes new aspects of its critical care management and gives an overview of sclerosing cholangitis in the critically ill patient, an under-recognized disease entity that can progress to acute liver failure.
authors.affiliation: Klinik für Gastroenterologie, Hepatologie und Endokrinologie, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Carl-Neuberg-Straße 1, 30625, Hannover. hadem.johannes@mh-hanover.de
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hadem
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Manns
mesh_terms: D015209:Cholangitis, Sclerosing / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D003422:Critical Care / Q000379:methods; D004630:Emergencies; D006501:Hepatic Encephalopathy / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D017114:Liver Failure, Acute / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*; D016031:Liver Transplantation; D011379:Prognosis; D012017:Referral and Consultation