Liver failure

Liver failure
Other names	Hepatic insufficiency, liver dysfunction
A person with massive ascites and caput medusae due to cirrhotic liver failure
Specialty	Gastroenterology, hepatology
Symptoms	abdominal inflammation, fluid retention, hyperglycemia, nausea, vomiting, jaundice, acute or chronic fatigue, hyponatremia, hypokalemia, respiratory alkalosis, metabolic acidosis, bilirubinuria, glycosuria, pruritus
Risk factors	Excessive consumption of alcohol, fatty foods; obesity; Type 2 Diabetes; sharing or reusing syringes; having tattoos or body piercings

Liver failure is the inability of the liver to perform its normal synthetic and metabolic functions as part of normal physiology. Two forms are recognised, acute and chronic (cirrhosis).^[1] Recently, a third form of liver failure known as acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) is increasingly being recognized.^[2]