What causes acute liver failure?

[Viridian]

Sorry, this is long one. I wonder is this the right place to ask...

My mother-in-law died from acute liver failure. She was diagnosed with cancer a year and a half ago, she had chemotherapy, then radiotherapy. Her last test results showed her treatment had been successful and she was cancer free. While they were doing all the scans at the beginning of her illness, they found a tumour on her brain. They said it could have been there a long time and they weren’t concerned but a year later she had a seizure and numbness down her left side so they decided to remove the tumour. She had the brain surgery a few months after she finished her chemo and radiotherapy. She suddenly got very ill after the brain surgery. She was in hospital for two weeks and the doctors could not find what was wrong with her. She went rapidly downhill and as a last resort, they eventually opened her up to see if they could find anything but by this time it was too late and she never came back round. The coroner could not find a cause of death and said there would be an inquest. After several months the inquest has been cancelled as they have now said the cause of death was acute liver failure.

I’m wondering why they couldn’t work out her liver was the issue? Do liver function tests not give this kind of information? I’m also wondering did the chemotherapy and/or cause the liver failure? Would/should would her cancer doctors have been keeping an eye on her liver and adjust the dose accordingly if it was damaging her liver? If it wasn’t her cancer treatment, what else could it be? She was prescribed steroids after her brain surgery. Can steroids cause liver failure? And my last question is could her liver have been failing for months or would it have been sudden? I guess the word acute means it *was* sudden. I guess ultimately I want to know could her doctors have done something different to stop this happening and were they negligent in the care of her?

Sorry that was so long. Thanks for reading.

[Sand123456]

Hi Viridian I'm sorry to hear all this about your mother in law. I don't really have the answers to your questions, so not much help really, you could go and see your mother in laws gp and see what tests she had. Or see if you can meet with the Drs involved. Hopefully you can get some reassurance.

[alfredthegreat]

Hi Viridian. I'm sorry to read of the loss of your mother-in -law. I'm afraid that none of us on here are medically qualified to answer your in depth queries. If you are not satisfied with any of your mother-in-law's treatments or the answers that you have been given there is an organisation called PALS (Patients Advise and Liaison Service) that you can contact.

They offer confidential advice and support and information on health related matters. They can advise you about the NHS complaints procedure and also how to get independent help if you wish to make a complaint. You can find your nearest PALS on the NHS website or by phoning NHS111.

I hope that this is of some help to you.

Very best wishes.

Alf.