ObjectiveTo introduce the basic principles of commonly used assessment methods for liver function reserve, and compare the advantages and disadvantages of various assessment methods, so as to provide a reference for hepatectomy of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). MethodThe literature on evaluation methods of liver reserve function in patients with HCC at home and abroad in recent years was searched and summarized. ResultsFrom the results of literature review, the Child‐Pugh score and indocyanine green discharge test were the most commonly used to assess preoperative liver function reserve for patients with HCC. The application value of other examinations such as albumin-bilirubin score, gadolinium-ethoxybenzyl diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI), nuclear medical imaging in predicting post-hepatectomy liver failure was gradually being explored. ConclusionsThe combination of clinical parameters and volumetric studies is used to assess preoperative liver function reserve for patients with HCC. The clinical applications of nuclear medical imaging and Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI make up for the deficiency of local liver function reserve evaluation, which are important examinations to assess liver function reserve after conversion therapy in the future. However, more domestic studies are still needed to confirm their values.
The main treatment strategies for hepatic failure include drug therapy, artificial liver support system, and liver transplantation. This article introduces the clinically commonly used non biological artificial liver techniques, including plasma exchange, continuous blood purification, plasma bilirubin adsorption, plasma diafiltration, repeatedly pass albumin dialysis, molecular adsorbent recirculating system, Prometheus system, etc; and discusses how to select different artificial liver techniques according to different clinical manifestation. At the same time, the progress of bioartificial liver in recent years is summarized, and the future development of artificial liver is prospected.
目的 总结肝移植治疗慢性重症肝炎急性肝衰竭的经验，以期改善预后。 方法 回顾性分析我院施行的3例慢性重症肝炎急性肝衰竭肝移植临床资料。结果 2例男性，1例女性，术前均诊断为慢性重症肝炎急性肝衰竭，肝功能Child分级均为C级，MELD评分分别为56.72、31.90及52.83，肝性脑病Ⅱ°～Ⅳ°，均合并肺部、腹腔感染，术前人工肝治疗1～3次，均行背驮式肝移植，术后病例3停用免疫抑制剂11 d，病例2和病例3痊愈出院，病例1因严重感染继发多器官功能衰竭死亡。结论 术前、术后人工肝支持改善内环境、术中及时补充凝血物质和术后有效控制感染是保证肝移植治疗慢性重症肝炎急性肝衰竭良好预后的关键措施。
ObjectiveTo summarize the changes and mechanism of related genes induced by stem cell therapy in acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) in recent years, and in order to guide the clinical value of ACLF and curative effect evaluation. MethodsThrough searching Wanfang med, CNKI, Pubmed database and so on in recent years, the differentially expressed genes induced by stem cell therapy for ACLF in recent years was retrieved and the changes of related genes induced during the treatment process were discussed. ResultsBoth at home and abroad had reported that stem cell therapy in the process of ACLF caused mir-27b, TRAIL, and Tg737 genetic changes, some genetic changes had an fixed change trend. ConclusionsStem cells in the treatment of ACLF, cause mir-27b, TRAIL, Tg737 genetic changes, which can provides a new way and method for monitoring stem cell therapy ACLF.
Objective To explore the safety and efficacy of plasma diafiltration (PDF) in the treatment of liver failure. Methods Patients with liver failure requiring artificial liver treatment in West China Hospital of Sichuan University from December 2020 to December 2022 were selected and divided into three groups according to treatment modality: PDF group, double plasma molecular adsorption system (DPMAS) group and plasma exchange (PE) group. Serum albumin levels and total bilirubin (TB) levels were tested before and after treatments to compare the clearance of these substances among three groups. Adverse events were recorded. Results A total of 88 patients were included, with a total of 179 treatments conducted. Among them, 27 cases in PDF group were treated for 62 times. In PE group, 18 cases were treated for 33 times. In DPMAS group, 43 cases were treated for 84 times. There were no significant differences between the three groups in age, sex, TB, international standardized ratio, albumin, hemoglobin, blood pH value, blood sodium, blood potassium, blood free calcium, or lactate (P>0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in the absolute value of TB decrease, percentage of TB decrease, absolute value of albumin change, and percentage of albumin change before and after treatment among the three groups (P>0.05). Transient hypotension occurred in one patient in DPMAS group. There were two and three allergic reactions in PDF and PE groups, respectively. In addition, 2 patients in PE group had hypocalcemia. Conclusions PDF can be safely used in patients with liver failure, and its therapeutic effect on reducing bilirubin is similar to DPMAS and PE groups. Compared with PE, it needs less plasma supplement. As it can provide ultrafiltration, PDF would be helpful in patients with liver failure accompanied by renal insufficiency oliguria.
ObjectiveTo systematically review the efficacy and safety of plasma exchange (PE) versus routine medical therapy (RMT) for patients with chronic liver failure. MethodsWe electronically searched databases including PubMed, The Cochrane Library (Issue 7, 2014), CBM, CNKI, and VIP from inception to August 2014, to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and clinical controlled trials (CCTs) of PE versus RMT for chronic liver failure patients. Two reviewers independently screened literature according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracted data and assessed the methodological quality of included studies. Then, meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.0 software. ResultsA total of 7 RCTs and 9 CCTs involving 1 632 patients (822 in the PE group and 810 in the RMT group) were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that:compared with the RMT group, the PE group had lower mortality rate (RCT:OR=0.24, 95%CI 0.13 to 0.43; CCT:OR=0.48, 95%CI 0.30 to 0.78) and higher total effective rate (RCT:OR=4.04, 95%CI 2.80 to 5.85; CCT:OR=3.45, 95%CI 2.11 to 5.64). Subgroup analysis based on the stage of liver failure showed that the PE group was superior to the RMT group in early- and intermediate-stage patients with liver failure in total effective rate (early stage:OR=4.78, 95%CI 1.87 to 12.23; intermediate stage:OR=4.43, 95%CI 1.77 to 11.08), but this difference was not found in advanced liver failure patients (OR=1.61, 95%CI 0.35 to 7.38). Seven studies reported 187 cases of adverse reactions (11.46%), and most of them were pruritus and urticaria. ConclusionCurrent evidence shows, compared with the routine medical therapy, the PE therapy could be effective to early- and intermediate-stage liver failure patients, but not be effective to advanced liver failure patients. In addition, patients who received the PE therapy have risks of adverse reactions which mainly are allergic reaction. Due to limited quality and quantity of the included studies, more high quality studies are needed to verify the above conclusion.
Objective To investigate the risk factors for hypotension in liver failure patients during double plasma molecular adsorption system (DPMAS) treatment, providing a theoretical basis for targeted clinical prevention and intervention. Methods Liver failure patients undergoing DPMAS at West China Hospital of Sichuan University between March 2021 and March 2023 were retrospectively enrolled. General data and clinical indicators were compared between the hypotension group and non-hypotension group. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to identify risk factors for hypotension. Results Of the 403 included patients, 60 (14.89%) developed hypotension, while 343 (85.11%) did not. Univariate analyses showed statistically significant differences between groups in age, sex, body mass index (BMI), albumin, serum sodium, pre-treatment systolic blood pressure, pre-treatment diastolic blood pressure, pre-treatment mean arterial pressure, and intraoperative vasoactive drug use (P<0.05). Multivariate logistic regression revealed that low BMI [odds ratio (OR)=0.712, 95% confidence interval (CI) (0.587, 0.863)], low serum sodium [OR=0.715, 95%CI (0.646, 0.792)], and intraoperative vasoactive drug use [OR=11.382, 95%CI (4.438, 29.194)] were independent risk factors for hypotension (P<0.05). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis combining these three factors yielded an area under the curve of 0.922 [95%CI (0.886, 0.957)] for predicting hypotension incidence. Conclusions Low serum sodium, intraoperative vasoactive drug use, and low BMI are significant risk factors for hypotension during DPMAS therapy. Clinical emphasis should be placed on anticipating and mitigating hypotension to ensure uninterrupted treatment, reduce economic burdens, and improve patient prognosis.
【Abstract】Objective To evaluate effect of artificial liver support system (ALSS) in liver failure and liver transplantation.Methods Forty-four patients with liver failure (including 12 undergoing liver transplantation) were treated with MARS or plasma exchange. The changes of toxic substances and cytokines in blood were detected before and after treatment. Results ALSS therapy achieved a remarkable improvement in clinical symptoms and physical signs. After ALSS treatment, there was a significant decrease in total bilirubin, total bile acid, alanine aminotransferase, creatinine, urea nitrogen, blood ammonia and endotoxin levels(P＜0.05); the levels of serum NO, TNF-α, IL-4 and IL-6 were significantly decreased(P＜0.05); there was no statistical change in erythrocytes, leukocytes and platelets. The survival rate of 30 liver failure patients caused by severe hepatitis B was 60.0%(18/30). Six patients with acute liver failure were successfully performed liver transplantation. Two patients in 6 with acute liver failure after liver transplantation survived. One patient in 2 with acute liver failure after pancreatoduodenectomy survived. Conclusion ALSS plays a positive role in treatment of liver failure by removing blood toxins, NO and cytokines. ALSS also plays a substitute role for liver failure patients who are waiting for liver transplantation.
ObjectiveTo identify the risk factors for liver failure in patients with recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) undergoing interventional therapy after hepatectomy, and to develop a predictive nomogram. MethodsThe patients who underwent interventional therapy for recurrent HCC after hepatectomy at Haian People’s Hospital Affiliated to Nantong University from December 2018 to January 2023 were retrospectively enrolled. The patients were randomly assigned to a training set and a validation set in a 7:3 ratio. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed on the training set to identify the risk factors for secondary liver failure after interventional therapy for HCC. A nomogram prediction model was subsequently developed based on the identified risk factors. The discriminative ability of the predictive nomogram was evaluated using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), while calibration curves and decision curve analysis (DCA) were applied to assess calibration performance and clinical utility, respectively. ResultsA total of 458 patients were included (321 patients in the training set, 137 patients in the validation set), among whom 108 (23.58%) developed liver failure. Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified the following risk factors for liver failure (all P<0.05): diabetes mellitus, liver cirrhosis, Child-Pugh grade C, intraoperative blood transfusion, prolonged hepatic inflow occlusion, remnant liver volume <40%, and elevated total bilirubin level. The nomogram constructed based on these factors achieved AUC (95%CI) of 0.887 (0.843, 0.921) in the training set and 0.820 (0.735, 0.880) in the validation set. The calibration curves approximated the ideal line, and the Hosmer-Lemeshow test indicated good agreement between predictions and observations (training set: χ2=8.849, P=0.355; validation set: χ2=8.362, P=0.399). Decision curve analysis demonstrated a high net clinical benefit within threshold probability ranges of 0.02–0.93 for the training set and 0.02–0.83 for the validation set. ConclusionsThis study suggests that for patients with high-risk factors—such as diabetes, liver cirrhosis, Child-Pugh class C, intraoperative blood transfusion, prolonged hepatic inflow occlusion, small future liver remnant volume, or elevated total bilirubin levels, who undergo interventional therapy after liver cancer resection, close attention should be paid to the risk of liver failure. The nomogram prediction model constructed based on these factors demonstrates a good performance in early risk assessment of liver failure following interventional therapy.