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©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Crit Care Med. Dec 9, 2025; 14(4): 108840
Published online Dec 9, 2025. doi: 10.5492/wjccm.v14.i4.108840
Published online Dec 9, 2025. doi: 10.5492/wjccm.v14.i4.108840
Management of acute liver failure-an updated literature review
Vignesh K Nagesh, Emelyn Martinez, Shruthi Badam, Jevon Lamar Harrison, Marina Basta, Ghulam R Anwar, Vishal Deshpande, Deepa Francis, Damien Islek, Sai Priyanka Pulipaka, Ruchi Bhuju, Sameh Elias, Department of Internal Medicine, Hackensack Meridian Health Palisades Medical Center, North Bergen, NJ 07047, United States
Vivek Joseph Varughese, Internal Medicine, Prisma Health/University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29203, United States
Pratiksha Moliya, Bilal Niazi, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198, United States
Co-corresponding authors: Vignesh K Nagesh and Emelyn Martinez.
Author contributions: Nagesh VK, Martinez E, Badam S, Harrison JL, Basta M, Varughese VJ, Anwar GR, Deshpande V, Francis D, Islek D, Pulipaka SP, Bhuju R, Moliya P, and Niazi B searched the literature, wrote and revised the manuscript; Elias S supervised the project; Nagesh VK and Martinez E they contributed equally to this article, they are the co-corresponding authors of this manuscript; and all authors thoroughly reviewed and endorsed the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Vignesh K Nagesh, Internal Medicine, Hackensack Meridian Health Palisades Medical Center, 7600 River Road, North Bergen, NJ 07047, United States.
Received: April 24, 2025
Revised: May 19, 2025
Accepted: August 25, 2025
Published online: December 9, 2025
Processing time: 218 Days and 16.6 Hours
Revised: May 19, 2025
Accepted: August 25, 2025
Published online: December 9, 2025
Processing time: 218 Days and 16.6 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Acute liver failure (ALF) is a rapidly progressive and life-threatening condition that demands urgent recognition and intervention. This review highlights the latest insights into ALF’s diverse causes, diagnostic strategies, and management approaches. Emphasis is placed on early etiology identification, use of prognostic tools like King’s College Criteria and Model for End-Stage Liver Disease score, and timely initiation of targeted therapies. Advances in liver support systems and transplant accessibility have improved outcomes, yet ALF remains a critical challenge. A multidisciplinary, evidence-based approach is essential to optimize care and explore emerging treatments that may transform the future of ALF management.