A Rare Case of Acute Liver Failure Secondary to Miliary Liver Metastasis

Prabasha Weeraddana; Teena Thomas; Niwanthi Weerasooriya; Mohamed Zakee Mohamed Jiffry; Dmitriy Golovyan; Shubhneet Bal

doi:10.7759/cureus.32282

A Rare Case of Acute Liver Failure Secondary to Miliary Liver Metastasis

Cureus. 2022 Dec 7;14(12):e32282. doi: 10.7759/cureus.32282. eCollection 2022 Dec.

Authors

Prabasha Weeraddana¹, Teena Thomas¹, Niwanthi Weerasooriya¹, Mohamed Zakee Mohamed Jiffry¹, Dmitriy Golovyan², Shubhneet Bal³

Affiliations

¹ Internal Medicine, Danbury Hospital, Danbury, USA.
² Pulmonary and Critical Care, Danbury Hospital, Danbury, USA.
³ Pathology, Danbury Hospital, Danbury, USA.

Abstract

Acute liver failure (ALF) is a potentially fatal condition that adversely affects multiple organs and has a high mortality rate. ALF due to hepatic infiltration is rare even though it is a common place for cancer to metastasize. Patients with ALF usually present with abdominal pain and elevated liver function tests. We report a case of a 65-year-old male that developed ALF due to miliary liver metastasis of non-small cell carcinoma from an unknown primary origin. The patient initially presented with a couple of episodes of coffee-ground emesis and epigastric pain. Upon further evaluation, along with computed tomography (CT) scans and liver biopsy, the diagnosis was established. The patient passed away on the 12^th day of hospitalization.

Keywords: acute liver failure (alf); alt (alanine aminotransferase); ast (aspartate aminotransferase); ct abdomen; liver metastasis; miliary metastasis; non- small cell carcinoma.

Publication types

Case Reports