Background and aim: Acute on chronic liver failure (ACLF) is an acute decompensation in a patient with chronic liver disease associated with organ failure. The precipitating factors described most prevalent in the West are alcohol and bacterial infections, in a considerable proportion it is not possible to identify a factor. Aim. Identify the precipitating factors of ACLF and determine the epidemiological characteristics in patients of a Unity Medical of High Speciality.
Material and methods: Descriptive, retrospective and observational study, with analysis of 24 patients diagnosed with ACLF from January 01, 2019 to February 01, 2020 of Unity Medical of High Speciality Manuel Ávila Camacho Puebla. The data collected was from clinical files and digitized in Excel, analyzed in the IBM SPSS version 24 program.
Results: From the 24 patients, (M: 16 and F: 8) the precipitating factors of ACLF were determined in 16 patients (66.7%). The most prevalent etiology of cirrhosis by sex found (M: alcoholic 43.7%, cryptogenic 25%, Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) 18.7% and NASH 12.5%). (F: cryptogenic 37.5%, HCV 25.5%, NASH 12.5% and Autoimmune 15.6%). Previous recorded decompensations M: 68.7% and F: 62.5%. By CLIF score (F: 62.5% with grade 3, 25% grade 2 and 12.5% grade 1), (M: 75% with grade 2 and 25% grade 3). In both sexes, the most affected organ was the kidney.
Conclusions: The ACLF represents a big challenge in clinical practice, the early identification of precipitating factors will allow the timely diagnosis and treatment for decrease in their morbimortality.
Conflicts of interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.