King’s College Criteria for Acetaminophen and non-Acetaminophen Toxicity

    The King's College Criteria or the King's College Hospital criteria were devised in 1989 to determine if there were any early indices of poor prognosis in patients with acute liver failure (ALF) and to identify patients with ALF who would benefit from liver transplantation.

    They are based on the etiology of ALF as well as clinical characteristics of the patient.

    Orthotopic liver transplantation (OLTx) may be an option for therapy in ALF. Early consultation with the liver transplant (LT) surgical team should be carried out to determine the suitability of the patient.

    OLTx is contraindicated in patients with hemodynamic instability requiring vasopressors, known malignancy outside

of the liver, and advanced age.

    A variety of other calculations have been done based on similar parameters to determine the risk of mortality in acute liver failure. The Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) score has a comparable sensitivity to the King's College Criteria in determining prognosis.

Stay tuned! Sign up with Facebook!