Spahr Laurent, Morard Isabelle, Mentha Gilles, Hadengue Antoine, Giostra Emiliano
Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland.
Case Rep Gastroenterol. 2008 Sep;2(3):424-7. doi: 10.1159/000164618. Epub 2008 Nov 14.
Fulminant hepatic failure is characterized by the presence of hepatic encephalopathy in the setting of acute liver injury that occurs in a noncirrhotic organ. Brain edema is the ultimate complication of advanced hepatic encephalopathy as it often leads to cerebral herniation and death. Thus, the presence of fulminant hepatic failure indicates the need for urgent liver transplantation to prevent death or irreversible brain damage. We report a very unusual evolution of fulminant hepatic failure complicated by brain edema and hepatic coma in a 45-year-old woman admitted with acute viral hepatitis E infection.