Liver assist systems: state of the art

Attempts to develop liver support systems for the treatment of patients wit h liver failure have ranged from use of plasma exchange to utilization of c harcoal columns and extracorporeal devices loaded with liver tissue. Howeve r, no system has achieved wide clinical use and - in the absence of liver t ransplantation - severe hepatic failure continues to be associated with sig nificant morbidity and mortality In this paper, the authors review the curr ent status of liver assist systems and summarize their clinical experience with a xenogeneic cell based-bioartificial liver.