title: Treatment of hepatic failure with artificial liver support system.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the effectiveness of artificial liver support system (ALSS) treatment in patients with hepatic failure.
  
  
  METHODS
  235 cases of hepatic failure were treated with ALSS in our hospital. All data were analyzed by SPSS. The effectiveness of ALSS treatment was compared according to different stages (i.e., early, middle and end stages).
  
  
  RESULTS
  108 patients survived after therapy of ALSS. After each ALSS treatment, the liver function of these patients was greatly improved, the serum endotoxin and HBV-DNA concentrations were significantly decreased, and the serum concentration of aromatic amino acids (AAA) such as methionine decreased while the ratio of branched chain amino acids and aromatic amino acids (BCAA/AAA ratio) increased; patients treated with ALSS in the early or middle stages of disease had much higher survival rates than patients in the end stage of disease.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  ALSS is a reliable therapy for advanced liver diseases and treatment at early or middle stages is appropriate.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Disease, First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310003, China. young74@163.net
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Q
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000596:Amino Acids / Q000097:blood; D004731:Endotoxins / Q000097:blood; D005076:Exanthema / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006470:Hemorrhage / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D006947:Hyperkalemia / Q000209:etiology; D007022:Hypotension / Q000209:etiology; D007239:Infections / Q000209:etiology; D017093:Liver Failure / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D019164:Liver, Artificial / Q000009:adverse effects; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D004731:Endotoxins