Extracorporeal Hemoperfusion Over the Human and Baboon Liver

Abstract

The liver supports life by three characteristic functions: excretion, synthesis, and detoxification. In acute hepatic damage, the excretion function is disturbed in the early period of disease. For this reason, we find jaundice as the first symptom of acute hepatitis. If liver disease progresses in the preterminal period, the synthetic functions fail. So we can find, for example, hypoalbuminemia, or decreased coagulation factors in the blood. Such defective substances we can substitute to sustain life. In the end stage of acute hepatitis, the patients lose consciousness, since the liver no longer possesses sufficient detoxification ability. At this stage, the patients need a temporary replacement of hepatic function to retain consciousness, and we expect regeneration of the organ during hepatic assist.