Acute Liver Damage And Subsequent Hypophosphatemia In Malnourished Patients: Case Reports And Review Of Literature

Objective: The relationship between liver damage and subsequent hypophosphatemia in malnourished patients will be discussed.Method: The authors report two malnourished females who developed severe liver damage and subsequent hypophosphatemia. Liver damage commenced suddenly after over a week of hospitalization and deteriorated rapidly. Although the precise pathology of the liver damage could not be determined and the specific cause was not identified, steatohepatitis associated with fatty liver might be considered.Results: Hypophosphatemia following liver damage was considered to be the result of hepatocyte regeneration and replacement of phosphorus was an effective treatment.Conclusion: Hypophosphatemia in these cases suggested improvement from liver damage; however, it is commonly known that hypophosphatemia has a central role in refeeding syndrome in malnourished patients. Therefore, it was concluded that attention should be paid to hypophosphatemia after liver damage. (c) 2007 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.