Comparative study of bioartificial liver support and plasma exchange for treatment of pigs with fulminant hepatic failure

Recently, bioartificial liver (BAL) treatment was reported to provide benef icial effects for patients with fulminant hepatic failure (FHF). Some succe ss in experimental or clinical trials has been reported; however, the evalu ation of BAL efficacy remains unclear, especially in comparison with other treatments for FHF. The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy b etween BAL and plasma exchange (PE) in experimentally induced FHF in pigs. Pigs undergoing hepatic devascularization (HD) were placed into the followi ng groups: no treatment (control; n = 6), BAL treatment (BAL; n = 5), and p lasma exchange (PE; n = 5). Each treatment was initiated 6 h after HD and t asted for 4 h. BAL treatment significantly improved liver functions in FHF pigs, The decrease in cerebral perfusion pressure was also significantly su ppressed in the pigs with BAL, and their survival time was prolonged compar ed with the results in pigs with PE, The effects of BAL outperform those of PE in the treatment of experimental PHF model.