[Effect of artificial liver support system on the survival rate of high risk patients after liver transplantation].

Objective: To observe the effect of artificial liver support system (ALSS) after liver transplantation on the survival rate of severe hepatitis patients.

Methods: Patients with severe hepatitis with model for end stage liver disease (MELD) score above 35 were divided into two groups according to whether pre-transplantation ALSS was instituted (n=23) or not (n=41). Evaluation was performed on the day when the patient entered into the waiting list and 1 day pre-transplantation. Survival rates and survival curves were estimated with Kaplan-Meier method. Log-Rank test for trends was used when comparing curves.

Results: There was no significant difference between two groups when comparing the parameters including prothrombin time, fibrinogen, total bilirubin, blood ammonia, creatinine, MELD score on the day of entering into the waiting list (all P>0.05). After the therapy of ALSS, the parameters of ALSS group were significantly improved comparing to those of the control group (all P<0.01). MELD score of ALSS group on the day pre-transplant was decreased significantly comparing to that on the day entering into the waiting list (37.6+/-2.0 vs. 41.4+/-2.2, P<0.01), with the difference in MELD score (DeltaMELD) of -3.8. MELD score of control group on the day entering into the waiting list and 1 day pre-transplant was 40.6+/-1.7 and 41.0+/-1.6 respectively, with DeltaMELD of +0.4 ( P>0.05). The blood loss and operation time in ALSS group was significantly less than the control group [(4 070.0+/-688.1) ml vs. (4 905.9+/-1 142.1) ml, (9.4+/-1.1) hours vs. (10.5+/-1.0) hours, P<0.05 and P<0.01). Thirty days and 1 year survival rate of ALSS group was 91% and 82%, and that of control group was 76% and 59% respectively (P=0.044).

Conclusion: ALSS can improve the survival rate of patients with severe hepatitis undergoing liver transplantation through ameliorating physiological status, lessening blood loss during operation and operation time.