Fulminant hepatitis is severe liver inflammation that stops working quickly and progressively in a few days or weeks, causing symptoms such as yellowish skin and eyes, dark urine, low fever, and general malate.
This condition, also called acute liver failure or fulminant hepatic failure, is a medical emergency that can be caused by hepatitis B or high-dose consumption of paracetamol, and affect people who have normal liver or controlled liver disease.
Read also: Liver failure: what is, symptoms, causes and treatment
It is important that the diagnosis and treatment of fulminant hepatitis be done as soon as possible according to the guidance of the hepatologist so that the symptoms can be controlled and there is no total loss of liver function, requiring the person to be hospitalized for treatment.
Symptoms of fulminant hepatitis
The main symptoms of fulminant hepatitis are:
- Dark urine;
- Yellow eyes and skin, a situation called jaundice;
- As a general;
- low fever;
- Nausea, vomiting and loss of appetite;
- Pain in the right side of the abdomen or swelling in the belly;
- Itching, iter and itching, I
- Hemorrhages.
In the most severe cases, inflammation of the brain, known as hepatic encephalopathy, which causes behavioral changes, sleep disorders, disorientation, and even coma can also occur, being indicative of advanced disease status. Know how to identify the symptoms of hepatic encephalopathy.
It is important to go to the emergency room immediately if symptoms of fulminant hepatitis arise, so that treatment is diagnosed and started as soon as possible.
Don’t ignore the signs your body is giving!
How the diagnosis is made
The diagnosis of fulminant hepatitis should be made by the hepatologist or general practitioner in the hospital, through the evaluation of symptoms, health history and physical examination.
In addition, the doctor should order tests that evaluate liver function, such as ALT, AST, GGT, alkaline phosphatase and bilirubin, for example, and imaging tests such as computed tomography or MRI. Look at what tests evaluate the liver.
In some cases, the doctor may also indicate the performance of the liver biopsy that allows to detect the severity of the lesions and sometimes the causes of the disease.
Possible causes
The main causes of fulminant hepatitis are:
- Hepatitis A and B;
- Autoimmune diseases, such as Reye's syndrome or Wilson's disease;
- Use of medications, such as paracetamol, most often as a consequence of self-medication;
- Consumption of excessive weight loss teas and without guidance;
- Lack of oxygen in liver tissues
- Excess fat in the liver during pregnancy.
Although it is usually a complication, fulminant hepatitis can also happen in people who have normal liver.
When any of these situations are present, the person's liver can be severely affected, ceasing to be able to filter the blood to eliminate its impurities and to store vitamins and minerals, leading to the appearance of symptoms.
How the treatment is done
Treatment for fulminant hepatitis is done in the hospital and consists of using drugs to detoxify the liver. It is important that the person is fasting for a period and then receives an adequate, fat-free diet. Sometimes dialysis to purify blood is necessary.
However, this is not always enough to cure fulminant hepatitis, since often liver inflammation is extensive and there is no chance of reversal. Thus, liver transplantation may be recommended so that it may be possible to achieve healing. Understand how liver transplant is done.
However, since fulminant hepatitis is a consequence of other changes, it is important that its cause is identified and treated, avoiding further damage to the liver.
