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Every year and due to a variety of reasons, 6,000 people with no prior history of liver disease experience acute liver failure. In addition, patients with underlying stable chronic liver disease may develop acute clinical deterioration.
Liver failure is similar to kidney failure in the respect that it results in accumulation of toxins in the bloodstream. The nature of toxins, however, of kidney failure and liver failure differs significantly.
In kidney failure, the toxins retained in the patient’s body are generally water soluble. Standard renal therapy, such as conventional hemodialysis and continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT), removes toxins effectively. In liver failure, only some of the toxins accumulated are water soluble, while most are bound to blood proteins and to albumin in particular.
Because removal of both water-soluble and albumin-bound toxins is required, a liver dialysis system must offer features different from those of kidney dialysis systems.
Gambro, the leading supplier of artificial organ support systems, brings the Molecular Adsorbent Recirculating System (MARS®) for the treatment of patients with liver failure.1
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