MULTIPLE ORGAN FAILURE FOLLOWING SEVERE T RAUMA - PREDICTABILITY USING THE LIVER-FUNCTION TEST MEGX

The prognostic value of a dynamic liver-function test, based on the he patic conversion of lidocaine to monoethylglycinexylidide (MEGX), in p redicting multiple organ failure (MOF) was prospectively investigated in 28 critically ill patients after multiple trauma. The MEGX test and conventional static liver tests (bilirubin, aspartate aminotransferas e, glutamate dehydrogenase and factor V) were performed on days 1, 3, 5, and 7 after trauma and patients were classified by a modified MOF s core into a group without (n=18) and a group with the MOF syndrome (n= 9). All patients who subsequently developed MOF, however, displayed a sharp decrease in their MEGX values between days 1 and 3.