Letters To The Editor
Copyright ©2008 The WJG Press and Baishideng. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jan 7, 2008; 14(1): 158-159
Published online Jan 7, 2008. doi: 10.3748/wjg.14.158
Acute liver failure is frequent during heat stroke
JM Garcin, JA Bronstein, S Cremades, P Courbin, F Cointet
JM Garcin, S Cremades, P Courbin, F Cointet, Clinique médicale, hôpital d’instruction des armées Bégin, F 94163 Saint Mandé, France
JA Bronstein, Service de pathologie digestive, hôpital d’instruction des armées Clermont Tonnerre, F 29200 Brest, France
Correspondence to: JM Garcin, Clinique médicale, hôpital d’instruction des armées Bégin, F 94163 Saint Mandé, France. jgarcin@cegetel.net
Telephone: +33-1-43985243
Fax: +33-1-43985065
Received: October 1, 2007
Revised: October 31, 2007
Published online: January 7, 2008
Abstract

Acute liver failure (ALF) is relatively frequent during heat stroke (HS). This risk must be emphasized, because its incidence is higher than is usually thought. In a recent study by Weigand et al, two cases were reported in which liver failure was the leading symptom. We have confirmed their conclusion in a study of 25 cases of HS with ALF, compared with 25 other cases without ALF. Moreover, we observed that hypophosphatemia on admission could predict occurrence of ALF during HS. As for clinical and other biological parameters, phosphatemia should be monitored for at least 3 d in all cases of HS, even when it is thought to be mild.

Keywords: Heat stroke; Hypophosphatemia; Liver failure