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Case Reports
. 2008 Sep;2(3):424-7.
doi: 10.1159/000164618. Epub 2008 Nov 14.

Spontaneous Resolution of Brain Edema in Fulminant Hepatic Failure due to Hepatitis E

Laurent Spahr  1 , Isabelle Morard, Gilles Mentha, Antoine Hadengue, Emiliano Giostra
Affiliations
Case Reports

Spontaneous Resolution of Brain Edema in Fulminant Hepatic Failure due to Hepatitis E

Laurent Spahr et al. Case Rep Gastroenterol. 2008 Sep.

Abstract

Fulminant hepatic failure is characterized by the presence of hepatic encephalopathy in the setting of acute liver injury that occurs in a noncirrhotic organ. Brain edema is the ultimate complication of advanced hepatic encephalopathy as it often leads to cerebral herniation and death. Thus, the presence of fulminant hepatic failure indicates the need for urgent liver transplantation to prevent death or irreversible brain damage. We report a very unusual evolution of fulminant hepatic failure complicated by brain edema and hepatic coma in a 45-year-old woman admitted with acute viral hepatitis E infection.

Keywords: Brain edema; Fulminant hepatic failure; Hepatic encephalopathy; Hepatitis E; Liver transplantation.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Evolution of laboratory values over time since hospital admission in Geneva.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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