Evren Şentürk

The treatment of acute liver failure with fractionated plasma separation and adsorption system: Experience in 85 applications.

Introduction: Artificial liver support systems represent a potential useful option for the treatment of liver failure. The outcomes of patients treated with the fractionated plasma separation and adsorption (FPSA) system are presented. Patients and methods: FPSA was performed 85 times for 27 patients (median 3 treatments/patient) with liver failure [85.2% acute liver failure (ALF) and 14.8% acute‐on‐chronic liver failure] using the Prometheus 4008H (Fresenius Medical Care) unit. Citrate was used for anticoagulation. A variety of clinical and biochemical parameters were assessed. Comparisons between pretreatment and post‐treatment data were performed using paired t‐test. Results: The 85 sessions had a mean duration of 6 h. There were significant decreases in total bilirubin (13.18 ± 9.46 mg/dL vs. 9.76 ± 7.05 mg/dL; P < 0.0001), ammonia (167.6 ± 75 mg/dL vs. 120 ± 43.8 mg/dL; P < 0.0001), blood urea nitrogen (BUN; 12.55 ± 13.03 mg/dL vs. 8.18 ± 8.15 mg/dL; P < 0.0001), creatinine (0.54 ± 0.47 mg/dL vs. 0.46 ± 0.37 mg/dL; P = 0.0022) levels, and in pH (7.48 ± 0.05 vs. 7.44 ± 0.08; P = 0.0045). Four patients (14.8%) received liver transplantation after the treatments; in nine patients, transplantation was not necessary anymore (33%); the remaining 14 patients did not receive a transplantation because they were either not appropriate candidates or no organ was available. Overall survival was 48.1% (4 transplanted and 9 treated patients). No hematological complications related to FPSA were observed. Conclusions: FPSA system is a safe and effective detoxification method for patients with liver dysfunction, including ALF. The system is useful as a symptomatic treatment before liver transplantation; in up to 1/3 of the cases, it can even be used as a sole method of treatment. J. Clin. Apheresis 25:195–201, 2010.

The Comparison of Automatic Tube Compensation (ATC) and T-piece During Weaning

OBJECTIVE Automatic Tube Compensation (ATC) is a newly developed mechanical ventilatory support method. The aim of this study was to compare the ATC and the T-piece as a weaning method. METHODS Patients who were treated in ICU with mechanical ventilation for longer than 24 hours were included in this prospective clinical study. Fifty patients were divided into two groups for weaning, ATC or T-piece group. Patients tolerating 30 minutes spontaneous breathing trial underwent immediate extubation. The following parameters were recorded just before the spontaneous breathing trial and every 5 minutes during the 30 minute period; PEEP, Pplt, Pmean, FiO2, heart rate, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, respiratory rate, SaO2, ETCO2. The primary outcome of the study was successful extubation defined as the ability to maintain spontaneous breathing for 48 hours after extubation. RESULTS The mean duration of weaning were 4.96 days and 7.42 days in the ATC and T-piece groups, respectively (p value 0.022). There were no significant differences between the groups with respect to the hemodynamic parameters, mechanical ventilation and gas exchange parameters. CONCLUSION In terms of success for weaning, there was no superiority between the ATC and the T-Piece methods for spontaneous breathing and it was concluded that each of the methods can be used for weaning. The ATC group were compared in terms of successful weaning period but have shown no significant periods of time were found to be lower.

Pneumonia After Thoracic Surgery

The most frequent and severe complication after thoracic surgery is pneumonia. Hypoventilation due to pain and insufficient cough is the reason for postoperative pneumonia after thoracic surgery. There is a risk index developed from preoperative patients and operation-specific risk factors. The risk index may be useful for high-risk patients; therefore giving these patient groups more attention in the perioperative period and taking preventive measures may reduce the incidence of pneumonia. Postoperative period composed of pulmonary rehabilitation and analgesia includes breathing exercise, cough training, self-management education, and psychosocial support, and they have been shown to decrease complications. According to some new studies, paravertebral block has similar analgesic effects with thoracic epidural analgesia (TEA). Although paravertebral block has fewer adverse effects, TEA is still the gold standard for pain relief after thoracotomies. The incidence of pneumonia varies in the literature because there is no gold standard for the diagnosis of postoperative pneumonia. Many centers use only clinical criteria, whereas others use invasive diagnostic techniques. Empirical antibiotic treatment should be started based on patient factors, local infection, and susceptibility patterns.

Effects of Extracorporeal Liver Support Systems in Liver Failure

Yöntemler: Molekül abzorbe edici resirkülasyon sistemi (MARS) (10 hasta) ve plazmadan emilim yoluyla doğrudan adzorpsiyon (FPSA) (28 hasta) sistemlerinin uygulandığı 38 hastada, 114 işlem değerlendirilmiştir. Karaciğer nakli ve sağkalım sıklığı araştırılmış; SOFA ve hepatik ensefalopati skorları, total bilirübin, amonyak, albümin, kan idrar nitrojeni (BUN), kreatinin, laktat düzeyleri, INR ve lökosit ve trombosit sayıları ve ayrıca hemodinamik değişikliklerin sıklığı incelenip karşılaştırılmıştır. Kullanılmış olan antikoagülasyon yöntemi, destek sisteminin kaç kez uygulandığı ve hastanın yoğun bakım kalış süresi kaydedilmiştir.