Researchers develop clinical tool to predict if a child in acute liver failure will need a transplant

About 50 children are waitlisted for transplants in the U.S. a year due to acute liver failure. Unlike children with chronic liver disease, previously healthy children who develop acute liver failure can suddenly deteriorate. While pediatric acute liver failure has been linked to both viral hepatitis and drug-induced liver injury, at least half of cases have no apparent trigger. When a child in acute liver failure is admitted to the emergency room, the medical team may have only a brief window in which to decide whether a transplant is necessary.