Artificial Liver Support -- Pipe Dream or Reality?

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Abstract
Fulminant hepatic failure is characterized by the rapid appearance of jaundice, coagulopathy, and encephalopathy and reflects severe hepatocellular injury or necrosis. Acute viral hepatitis and drug-induced liver injury account for the vast majority of cases in developed nations; other causes include toxins, venous-outflow obstruction, and ischemia. Despite advances in our understanding of the pathophysiologic features of the disease and the establishment of specialized liver-failure units, mortality from fulminant hepatic failure ranges from 50 to 80 percent, depending on the cause.The liver destruction in fulminant hepatic failure is potentially reversible; the liver usually returns to normal in people who recover. . . .