Organ dysfunction is a condition where an organ does not perform its expected function. Organ failure is organ dysfunction to such a degree that normal homeostasis cannot be maintained without external clinical intervention.
It is not a diagnosis. It can be classified by the cause, but when the cause is not known, it can also be classified by whether the onset is chronic or acute.
Multiple organ failure can be associated with sepsis.
Read more about Organ Dysfunction: Further Reading
Famous quotes containing the word organ:
“But alas! I never could keep a promise. I do not blame myself for this weakness, because the fault must lie in my physical organization. It is likely that such a very liberal amount of space was given to the organ which enables me to make promises, that the organ which should enable me to keep them was crowded out. But I grieve not. I like no half-way things. I had rather have one faculty nobly developed than two faculties of mere ordinary capacity.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)