Acute liver failure(ALF)is a multi-systemic disorder with severe impairment of liver function,and complicated with encephaledema,hepatic encephalopathy,and multiple organ dysfunction in a short time.Its true incidence in the pediatric population is unknown,but ALF accounts for 10 to 15% of all pediatric liver transplantations.The multi-center clinical studies for ALF in children are rare.So the management of ALF in children has relied on extrapolation from adult data.But the clinical features of ALF in children are distinguished with the adult’s.This paper reviews the current knowledge of the definition,causes,clinical manifestation,diagnosis and treatment for ALF in children. Acute liver failure (ALF) is a multi-systemic disorder with severe impairment of liver function, and complicated with encephaledema, hepatic encephalopathy, and multiple organ dysfunction in a short time. If true incidence in the pediatric population is unknown, but ALF accounts for 10 to 15% of all pediatric liver transplantations. The multi-center clinical studies for ALF in children are rare. So the management of ALF in children has relied on extrapolation from adult data. But the clinical features of ALF in children are distinguished with the adult’s.This paper reviews the current knowledge of the definition, causes, clinical manifestation, diagnosis and treatment for ALF in children.