Causes and outcome of patients with fulminant hepatic failure

ABSTRACT

To identify the causes and outcome of patients with Fulminant hepatic failure among 40 patients. Descriptive case series study Study conducted in an ICU of Medical unit II Civil Hospital Karachi, during October 2004 to October, 2006. 40 consecutive patients of either sex having clinical features and biochemical markers suggestive of acute liver failure without prior history of any liver disease were included in study. All patients assessed from day one of admission in ICU till two weeks both clinically and biochemically and data analyzed on SPSS version 10.0. Out of 40 patients 16 [40%] were presented in hyper acute stage, 20[50%] were in acute stage and 4 [10%] were in sub acute stage of Fulminant hepatic failure. The most common etiology found among 40 patients was viral in origin. 29 patients [72.5%] were having different hepatotrophic viral etiology. In this study out of 40 patients 26 [65%] expired and among them 15 [57.60%] were male and 11 [42.30%] were female patients. Majority of patients died were having viral and drug related etiologies. This clinical descriptive study highlight the facts that Fulminant hepatic failure [FHF], is a well known entity in our Medical ICU and is not uncommon in our country where viral, Falciparum and drug related etiologies are frequently seen. The mortality is high all over the world but cases have also shown improvement in survival rate with aggressive therapy and intensive monitoring .Considering the facts and fatal consequences of this entity, short and long term large-scale studies are still needed to predict overall mortality in our Country