Liver transplantation in acute liver failure: A challenging scenario.

Acute liver failure is a critical medical condition defined as rapid development of hepatic dysfunction associated with encephalopathy. The prognosis in these patients is highly variable and depends on the etiology, interval between jaundice and encephalopathy, age, and the degree of coagulopathy. Determining the prognosis for this population is vital.

Successful orthotopic liver transplantation and delayed delivery of a healthy newborn in a woman with fulminant hepatic failure during the second trimester of pregnancy.

Severe liver dysfunction during pregnancy implies a serious risk for both mother and fetus, and represents a technical and ethical challenge for treating physicians. We report a case of a previously healthy 32-year old woman who was admitted to our hospital with idiopathic fulminant hepatic failure and underwent successful orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) at gestation week 21. Patient's and fetus' immediate postoperative course were relatively uneventful until week six after OLT, when the mother developed oligohydramnios and preeclampsia.