|
|
|
|
Keeping a patient with fulminant hepatic failure(FHF)alive until a donor liver is available for transplantation can be a problem.We describe an 18- year-old woman with paracetamol-induced FHF,who was treated by total hepatectomy,hypothermia,plasma exchange,and extracorporeal liver support. The patient was anhepatic for 14 h.The liver-support system consisted of plasma separation and perfusion through a charcoal filter and a hollow- fibre module seeded with matrix-attached porcine hepatocytes.With artificial liver treatment there was reversal of severe neurological dysfunction,normalisation of intracranial pressure,and decreased serum ammonia.The patient underwent emergency transplantation with an ABO- incompatible liver,followed by transplantation with a compatible organ eight days later.The patient has fully recovered and is neurologically intact. |
|