Liver failure

In medicine, liver failure, also called hepatic failure is "severe inability of the liver to perform its normal metabolic functions, as evidenced by severe jaundice and abnormal serum levels of ammonia; bilirubin; alkaline phosphatase; aspartate aminotransferase; lactate dehydrogenases; and albumin/globulin ratio."

Treatment
Among patients with hepatic encephalopathy grades I-II and international normalized ratio ≥ 1.5, intravenous N-acetylcysteine (NAC) for 72 hours may reduce the need for liver transplantation. The trial did not appear to have patients with liver failure due to ethanol.