Generally, total bilirubin over 171umol/L or daily increase over 17.1umol/L is an important indicator of acute liver failure and indicates a more serious condition. An increase in total and indirect bilirubin is an important indicator of liver disease or hemolytic disease, and the magnitude of the increase correlates positively with the severity of the disease. Common causes of elevated bilirubin include prehepatic, hepatic and posthepatic. Prehepatic refers to hemolytic disease, resulting in a significant increase in total and indirect bilirubin, the magnitude of which is positively correlated with the degree of hemolysis. Hepatic jaundice is commonly associated with viral hepatitis, alcoholic hepatitis, fatty liver, and autoimmune hepatitis. Post-hepatic jaundice refers to some obstructive diseases that also lead to an increase in total and indirect bilirubin, but the increase is dominated by direct bilirubin and can be distinguished from the other two types. The magnitude of the increase in total bilirubin is positively correlated with the severity of the disease, but the diagnosis of liver failure depends not only on the level and rate of bilirubin elevation, but also on the patient’s clinical symptoms, coagulation function and reference indicators such as hepatic encephalopathy.