CAQ Corner: Acute liver failure management and liver transplantation

Successful treatment of acute liver failure due to Wilson's disease: Serendipity or fortuity?

BACKGROUND

Acute liver failure (ALF) may be the first and most dramatic presentation of Wilson's disease (WD). ALF due to WD (WD-ALF) is difficult to distinguish from other causes of liver disease and is a clear indication for liver transplantation. There is no firm recommendation on specific and supportive medical treatment for this condition.

AIM

To critically evaluate the diagnostic and therapeutic management of WD-ALF patients in order to improve their survival with native liver.

METHODS

A retrospective analysis of patients with WD-ALF was conducted in two pediatric liver units from 2018 to 2023.

RESULTS

During the study period, 16 children (9 males) received a diagnosis of WD and 2 of them presented with ALF. The first was successfully treated with an unconventional combination of low doses of D-penicillamine and zinc plus steroids, and survived without liver transplant. The second, exclusively treated with supportive therapy, needed a hepatotransplant to overcome ALF.

CONCLUSION

Successful treatment of 1 WD-ALF patient with low-dose D-penicillamine and zinc plus steroids may provide new perspectives for management of this condition, which is currently only treated with liver transplantation.

Acute liver failure: Management update and prognosis

Acute liver failure is a rare but serious syndrome, with an incidence of approximately 2,000 to 3,000 cases per year in North America. Its pathophysiology and clinical course vary, depending on the cause of the primary liver injury, and can lead to high morbidity and mortality or the need for liver transplantation, despite available therapies. This syndrome involves excessive activation of the immune system, with damage in other organs, contributing to its high mortality rate. The most accepted definition includes liver injury with hepatic encephalopathy and coagulopathy within the past 26 weeks in a patient with no previous liver disease. The main causes are paracetamol poisoning, viral hepatitis, and drug-induced liver injury, among others. Identifying the cause is crucial, given that it influences prognosis and treatment. Survival has improved with supportive measures, intensive therapy, complication prevention, and the use of medications, such as N-acetylcysteine. Liver transplantation is a curative option for nonresponders to medical treatment, but adequate evaluation of transplantation timing is vital for improving results. Factors such as patient age, underlying cause, and severity of organ failure influence the post-transplant outcomes and survival.

Wilson's Disease with Acute Hepatic Onset: How to Diagnose and Treat It

Wilson's disease (WD) with acute onset poses a diagnostic challenge because it is clinically indistinguishable from other acute liver diseases. In addition, serum ceruloplasmin and urinary copper excretion, the first-line diagnostic tools for WD, can show false positive results in the case of acute liver failure, and the diagnostic role of genetic analysis is limited by the time required to perform it. In the case of fulminant onset, there is a clear indication of liver transplantation. "New Wilson Index" is frequently used to discriminate between patients who need liver transplantation versus those who can be successfully managed by medical treatment, but its reliability remains controversial. Timely referral of patients with acute liver failure due to WD may be a key factor in improving patient survival. Although liver transplant very often represents the only chance for such patients, maximum effort should be made to promote survival with a native liver. The management of these aspects of WD is still a matter of debate and will be the subject of this review.

Future directions in acute liver failure

Acute liver failure (ALF) describes a clinical syndrome of rapid hepatocyte injury leading to liver failure manifested by coagulopathy and encephalopathy in the absence of pre-existing cirrhosis. The hallmark diagnostic features are a prolonged prothrombin time (ie, an international normalized ratio of prothrombin time of ≥1.5) and any degree of mental status alteration (HE). As a rare, orphan disease, it seemed an obvious target for a multicenter network. The Acute Liver Failure Study Group (ALFSG) began in 1997 to more thoroughly study and understand the causes, natural history, and management of ALF. Over the course of 22 years, 3364 adult patients were enrolled in the study registry (2614 ALF and 857 acute liver injury-international normalized ratio 2.0 but no encephalopathy-ALI) and >150,000 biosamples collected, including serum, plasma, urine, DNA, and liver tissue. Within the Registry study sites, 4 prospective substudies were conducted and published, 2 interventional ( N -acetylcysteine and ornithine phenylacetate), 1 prognostic [ 13 C-methacetin breath test (MBT)], and 1 mechanistic (rotational thromboelastometry). To review ALFSG's accomplishments and consider next steps, a 2-day in-person conference was held at UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, entitled "Acute Liver Failure: Science and Practice," in May 2022. To summarize the important findings in the field, this review highlights the current state of understanding of ALF and, more importantly, asks what further studies are needed to improve our understanding of the pathogenesis, natural history, and management of this unique and dramatic condition.

Dysregulation of Copper Metabolism in a Patient With Acute-on-Chronic Liver Failure Worked up for Fulminant Wilson Disease

Wilson disease (WD) is estimated present in 6%-12% of patients younger than 40 years hospitalized with acute liver failure (ALF). Fulminant WD carries a poor prognosis without treatment. A 36-year-old man with HIV, chronic hepatitis B virus, and alcohol use had ceruloplasmin 6.4 mg/dL and 24-hour urine copper 180 μg/L. WD workup was otherwise negative, including ophthalmic examination, hepatic copper quantification, ATP7B sequencing, and brain MRI. ALF commonly features copper dysregulation. Few studies on WD biomarkers have included fulminant WD. Our patient with WD biomarkers and other causes of liver failure highlights the need to study copper dysregulation in ALF.

[Acute Liver Failure: Current Updates and Management]

Acute liver failure (ALF) is a rare disease condition with a dynamic clinical course and catastrophic outcomes. Several etiologies are involved in ALF. Hepatitis A and B infections and indiscriminate use of untested herbs or supplemental agents are the most common causes of ALF in Korea. Noninvasive neurological monitoring tools have been used in patients with ALF in recent times. Ongoing improvements in intensive care, including continuous renal replacement therapy, therapeutic plasma exchange, vasopressor, and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, have reduced the mortality rate of patients with ALF. However, liver transplantation is still the most effective treatment for patients with intractable ALF. There is a need for further research in the areas of better prognostication and precise selection of patients for emergency transplantation.