Cerebral edema in acute hepatic failure: clinicopathologic correlation

A child developed acute fulminant viral hepatitis and cerebral edema confirmed on postmortem examination. Clinical evidence of herniation, effacement of cortical sulci on computed tomography, and elevated cerebrospinal fluid pressure preceded complicating terminal events, demonstrated that cerebral edema was associated with acute hepatic failure, rather than complicating factors, and led to the patient's death. The mechanism is unknown.