摘要国内学者认识到，患者在进展到亚急性和慢加急性肝衰竭之前，存在一个"肝衰竭前期"，也是临床有效干预的黄金窗口期，在此期进行早期识别和干预，可以降低肝衰竭的发病率和病死率。中华医学会《肝衰竭诊治指南(2018年版)》对肝衰竭"前期"做了明确定义。从病理生理机制来看，肝衰竭前期对应于急性肝损伤/急性失代偿、炎症因子风暴/免疫紊乱阶段。现简要介绍肝衰竭前期的实质内涵及发病机制方面的研究进展，并提出未来有待探索明确的问题。

abstractsDomestic scholars recognize that patients have a "pre-hepatic failure" before they progress to sub-acute and acute-on-chronic liver failure stage, which is also the golden window for effective clinical intervention, so early identification and intervention during this period can reduce the incidence and mortality of liver failure. The Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Liver Failure (2018 Edition) issued by the Chinese Medical Association clearly defines the "pre-stage" of liver failure. And from the perspective of pathophysiological mechanism, the pre-hepatic failure corresponds to the stage of acute liver injury/acute decompensation, inflammation factor/ immunologic derangement. This article briefly introduces the research progress on substantive connotation and pathogenesis of pre-hepatic failure, and puts forward some problems to be explored in the future.