The development of a bioartificial liver and its application in acute liver failure patients

Objective Using polysulfon fibers, a new bioartificial liver was developed. This study was to evaluate the efficacy of this bioartificial liver in the support of a disfunctioned liver. Methods Hepatocytes were procured from swine using Seglen′s methods. The bioartificial liver was constructed based on polysulfon bioreactor with a procurement of 10 10 hepatocytes, and was applied in 12 acute liver failure patients for 14 sessions. Each BAL treatment lasted 6 hours. The general conditions of the patients and the biochemical parameters were evaluated. Results After treatment with bioartificial liver, ammonia, prothrombin time and total bilirubin level significantly decreased (all P 0 05). Two days later, only blood ammonia remained at a significantly low level ( P 0 05). One month after the treatment, 1 case (1/7) in simultaneous treatment group died while in heterochronous treatment group 2 cases (2/5) died. The total mortality rate was 25%.Conclusions The constructed bioartificial liver can sufficiently support liver functions in acute liver failure. The simultaneous HBAL may be better than non simultaneous HBAL.