# Prognosis after liver failure...

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prognosis-after-liver-failure/428425>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 1, 2007, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prognosis-after-liver-failure/428425 "2007-12-01T05:35:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\
**Post date:** [December 1, 2007, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prognosis-after-liver-failure/428425/1 "2007-12-01T05:35:20Z")

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…No transplant, not an option. How long could one live with a broken liver? Could you stay loopy all day from one glass of wine? Would a suntan cover the yellow stain you get all over?

Would you make it through this Xmas?

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**Author:** ![Twoflower](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/twoflower/32/22_2.png) [@Twoflower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Twoflower)\
**Post date:** [December 1, 2007, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prognosis-after-liver-failure/428425/2 "2007-12-01T06:01:17Z")

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I lost my business partner to liver failure this past summer. The downhill slide from first diagnosis of hepatitis was several months; from the point his liver shut down & the doctors said there was nothing more they could do, he lasted less than a week.

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**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\
**Post date:** [December 1, 2007, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prognosis-after-liver-failure/428425/3 "2007-12-01T06:45:45Z")

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Let’s put it this way–liver transplant decisions are based in part on the MELD score, which is a composite of a few different factors related to the shape the liver is in. Studies on the use of the MELD tend to evaluate only as far as three months.

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**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\
**Post date:** [December 1, 2007, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prognosis-after-liver-failure/428425/4 "2007-12-01T06:57:16Z")

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I guess I want to add that my father, who had a liver transplant, got pneumonia a couple of years out. This seems to have kicked up his immune system enough that he began to have organ rejection (which wasn’t identified until too late) and went from a healthy transplanted liver to necrosis and death within 4 months.

Why do you ask? Just fighting ignorance, or do you have someone specific on your mind?

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**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\
**Post date:** [December 1, 2007, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prognosis-after-liver-failure/428425/5 "2007-12-01T09:45:10Z")

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It depends on what you mean by “liver failure”.

If you’re talking about _zero_ remaining liver function, then death will come in hours to a few days.

If by “liver failure” you mean anything else, there’s no clear answer - the prognosis would depend on the degree of residual liver function (or, phrased in the complementary way, the severity of the liver damage).

With respect to “incomplete liver failure”, one might use the [Child-Pugh score](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child-Pugh_score) to prognosticate. (If you would like any clarification or help in defining what the various variables of the Child-Pugh score are, just let me know and I’ll do my best - tomorrow 🙂 )