A Case of Fulminant Hepatic Failure Secondary to Congestive Heart Failure Without Evidence of Acute Cardiac Decompensation.

There are so far only a few reported cases of acute fulminant hepatic failure resulting from acute cardiomyopathy. This is a rare occurrence, especially in patients that do not exhibit any signs and symptoms of acute cardiac decompensation. We report a case of fulminant liver failure with nondiagnostic work up for the common causes of liver failure. This patient had concurrent history of congestive heart failure, but did not have acute decompensation. Right upper quadrant sonogram revealed hepatomegaly of 15 cm, trace amount of perihepatic ascites, pericholecystic fluid, and also thickened edematous gallbladder wall with no stones, no common bile duct stones, and no portal vein thrombosis. Echocardiogram revealed dilated left atrium and ventricle, severe mitral regurgitation, severe tricuspid regurgitation, grade 4 diastolic dysfunction, diffuse hypokinesis of left ventricle, and severely and newly reduced systolic function with an ejection fraction of 10 percent (decreased from 25 percent on last ECHO 18 months prior). Liver biopsy demonstrated marked centrilobular hepatocyte necrosis and dropout accompanied by congestion, some areas of bridging necrosis and focal confluent necrosis which was suggestive of severe congestive hepatopathy. With initiation of heart failure medications, liver function improved significantly.