Journal of hepatology
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Journal of hepatology · Apr 2019
Prevalence and short-term mortality of acute-on-chronic liver failure: A national cohort study from the USA.
Acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) is characterised by the presence of organ failure in patients with decompensated cirrhosis and is associated with high short-term mortality. However, there are limited data on the prevalence and short-term outcomes of ACLF in patients with cirrhosis seen in the US. We aimed to study the prevalence and risk factors associated with the development and short term mortality in a large cohort of patients in the US. ⋯ Acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) is a condition marked by multiple organ failures in patients with cirrhosis and associated with a high risk of death. In this study of US patients hospitalised with cirrhosis, 1 in 4 patients developed ACLF. In total, 25% of patients with ACLF died within 1 month and 40% died within 3 months. Thus, early recognition of ACLF is important for the initiation of aggressive management, which is required to save these patients' lives.
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Journal of hepatology · Apr 2019
Observational StudyNormothermic regional perfusion vs. super-rapid recovery in controlled donation after circulatory death liver transplantation.
Although there is increasing interest in its use, definitive evidence demonstrating a benefit for postmortem normothermic regional perfusion (NRP) in controlled donation after circulatory death (cDCD) liver transplantation is lacking. The aim of this study was to compare results of cDCD liver transplants performed with postmortem NRP vs. super-rapid recovery (SRR), the current standard for cDCD. ⋯ This is a propensity-matched nationwide observational cohort study performed using livers recovered from donors undergoing cardiac arrest provoked by the intentional withdrawal of life support (controlled donation after circulatory death, cDCD). Approximately half of the livers were recovered after a period of postmortem in situ normothermic regional perfusion, which restored warm oxygenated blood to the abdominal organs, whereas the remainder were recovered after rapid preservation with a cold solution. The study results suggest that the use of postmortem normothermic regional perfusion helps reduce rates of post-transplant biliary complications and graft loss and allows for the successful transplantation of livers from older cDCD donors.