Syndromic Surveillance of Acute Liver Failure in Emergency Departments (France, 2010-2012)

Our objectives were to explore the relevance of emergency departments' (ED) data, collected daily through the French syndromic surveillance system (414 EDs, 65% attendances), to describe the characteristics of patients with acute liver failure (ALF). Data corresponding to ICD10 codes related to hepatitis diagnosis that include ALF ICD10 code (K720) were extracted and analyzed. During 2010-2012, 246 730 attendances with hepatitis were recorded of which 2 475 (1%) were linked to ALF. Patients with ALF were male (60%), their median age was 55 years. This study shows the relevance of French syndromic surveillance data to assess the burden of ALF.