Acute liver failure is a disease that attacks people who were healthy suddenly, in both acute and chronic liver failure, there is damage or death of liver cells, those cells that manufacture necessary proteins and remove toxins from the circulation.

Causes of acute liver failure include:

Hepatitis A, B, D, E and possibly C viruses.

* Hepatitis caused by CMV, which can occur with chemotherapy, and when following immunosuppressive therapy (when an organ transplant), because these treatments make the immune system more weak and susceptible to infection with this virus.

Intoxication resulting from normal doses of acetaminophen when taken with another drug, or with large amounts of alcohol, or when taken while fasting.

Increased doses of acetaminophen.

Allergic reactions to some medications and more cause of this condition, halothane (an anesthetic drug), sulfonamide, tetracycline and amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (antibiotics), quinidine and procainamide (drugs that regulate the heart rhythm), phenytoin (used to treat convulsive attacks), isoniazid (used in tuberculosis), estradiol (used to treat menopausal diseases), methyldopa (used to treat high blood pressure), and disulfiram (used to treat alcohol dependence).

* Poisoning caused by herbs, solvents and some types of mushrooms (specifically the type called Amanita phalloides).

Heat stroke.

Wilson’s disease (due to excess copper accumulation in the liver).

Pregnancy.

Reye syndrome.