Also known as severe acute hepatitis or hyperacute liver failure, fulminant hepatitis is the most serious condition among liver diseases and can lead to death in at least half of the patients.
This is a disease in which the previously healthy individual, within days or weeks, becomes profoundly ill. Know more!
What are the causes?
The causes of fulminant hepatitis can be autoimmune diseases, hepatitis A or B and the use of medications such as antibiotics, psychotropics, antidepressants, diabetes medicines, pain relievers such as Paracetamol and teas used for weight loss. Since this disease is not caused by viruses or bacteria, fulminant hepatitis is not contagious .
Symptoms
The main symptoms at the beginning of the condition are exactly the same as those of a common hepatitis : malaise, low fever, nausea and pain in the upper right part of the abdomen.
What differs from common acute hepatitis is that the urine is always dark (“Coca-Cola color”) and yellow eyes (jaundice). In addition, within days to a few weeks, the patient starts to have sleep disturbances (exchanging the day for the night) and eventually the voice becomes clogged and the reasoning is slow.
How is the diagnosis of the disease?
Through the patient’s medical history and physical and laboratory tests, the doctor can diagnose fulminant hepatitis. A liver biopsy can also help to discover the severity of the problem and, in some situations, what caused the disease in the patient.
How to treat the disease?
As the disease is serious and can lead to death in a short time , it is important that the case is managed by a specialist, in a liver transplant and center.
The treatment of acute hepatitis can be done using several intensive care resources – which can lead to more than half of the patients’ cure, if properly implemented.
Is the prognosis positive?
Using current resources, doctors are able to save, on average, more than 80% of patients with this serious disease. Therefore, early diagnosis is important, so that there is a greater chance of cure.
