Metastatic liver disease and fulminant hepatic failure: presentation of a case and review of the literature

Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2003 Nov;15(11):1235-40. doi: 10.1097/00042737-200311000-00014.

Abstract

Although liver metastases are commonly found in cancer patients, fulminant hepatic failure (FHF) secondary to diffuse liver infiltration is rare. Furthermore, clinical presentation and laboratory findings are obscure and far from being pathognomonic for the disease. We report a case of a patient who died in the intensive care unit of our hospital from multiple organ failure syndrome secondary to FHF, as a result of liver infiltration from poorly differentiated small cell lung carcinoma. We also present the current knowledge about the clinical picture, laboratory findings and physical history of neoplastic liver-metastasis-induced FHF.

Publication types

  • Case Reports
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Carcinoma, Small Cell / diagnostic imaging
  • Carcinoma, Small Cell / pathology*
  • Humans
  • Liver Failure / diagnostic imaging
  • Liver Failure / pathology*
  • Liver Neoplasms / diagnostic imaging
  • Liver Neoplasms / secondary*
  • Lung Neoplasms / diagnostic imaging
  • Lung Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Male
  • Neoplasm Invasiveness
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed