Moderate hypothermia for uncontrolled intracranial hypertension in acute liver failure

Jalan, Rajiv; Damink, S.W.M. Olde; Deutz, N.E.P.; Lee, Alistair; Hayes, Peter

doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(98)12440-6

Cited by 339 publications

(229 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…[106][107][108] It has been postulated to improve outcomes through a variety of mechanisms including reducing CBF, brain ammonia uptake, systemic inflammation, ROS production and oxidative stress which helps to lower ICH. 64 The use of mild hypothermia (cooling patients to <35 C) has now become standard of care in many tertiary liver centers 109 but its role in patients unsuitable for liver transplantation remains debatable.…”

Section: Hypothermiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Pathogenesis of Hepatic Encephalopathy: Role of Ammonia and Systemic Inflammation

Aldridge

Tranah

Shawcross

2015

Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hepatology

248

190

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The syndrome we refer to as Hepatic Encephalopathy (HE) was first characterized by a team of Nobel Prize winning physiologists led by Pavlov and Nencki at the Imperial Institute of Experimental Medicine in Russia in the 1890's. This focused upon the key observation that performing a portocaval shunt, which bypassed nitrogen-rich blood away from the liver, induced elevated blood and brain ammonia concentrations in association with profound neurobehavioral changes. There exists however a spectrum of metabolic encephalopathies attributable to a variety (or even absence) of liver hepatocellular dysfunctions and it is this spectrum rather than a single disease entity that has come to be defined as HE. Differences in the underlying pathophysiology, treatment responses and outcomes can therefore be highly variable between acute and chronic HE. The term also fails to articulate quite how systemic the syndrome of HE can be and how it can be influenced by the gastrointestinal, renal, nervous, or immune systems without any change in background liver function. The pathogenesis of HE therefore encapsulates a complex network of interdependent organ systems which as yet remain poorly characterized. There is nonetheless a growing recognition that there is a complex but influential synergistic relationship between ammonia, inflammation (sterile and non-sterile) and oxidative stress in the pathogenesis HE which develops in an environment of functional immunoparesis in patients with liver dysfunction. Therapeutic strategies are thus moving further away from the traditional specialty of hepatology and more towards novel immune and inflammatory targets which will be discussed in this review. ( J CLIN EXP HEPATOL 2015;5:S7-S20) H epatic encephalopathy (HE) is the term used to encapsulate the broad spectrum of neuropsychiatric disturbances associated with both acute and chronic liver failure (ALF and CLF, respectively), as well as porto-systemic bypass in the absence of hepatocellular disease. The clinical manifestations of HE can be extremely heterogeneous in nature, with symptoms presenting anywhere on a continuum spanning from seemingly normal cognitive performance, right the way through to states of confusion, stupor and coma. In between these extremes, patients with HE may exhibit signs such as inattentiveness, blunted affect, impairment of memory or reversal of the sleep-wake cycle, as well as physical manifestations such as tremor, myoclonus, asterixis and deep tendon hyperreflexia.ALF is defined by the onset of coagulopathy alongside any degree of encephalopathy in patients with no evidence of pre-existing liver disease. 1 The presence of HE in those with ALF is prognostic, with up to a quarter of cases developing raised intracranial pressure. 2 Patients presenting with ALF are at risk of developing its cardinal, lifethreatening feature, cerebral edema. Left untreated, cerebral edema can rapidly progress to cause herniation of the uncus through the falx cerebri, leading to compression of the brainstem and, ultimately, death. H...

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Section: Hypothermiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Pathogenesis of Hepatic Encephalopathy: Role of Ammonia and Systemic Inflammation

Aldridge

Tranah

Shawcross

2015

Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hepatology

248

190

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“…41 Data from studies in patients undergoing liver transplantation for ALF suggests that an increase in intracranial pressure can be prevented during the dissection and reperfusion phases of the operation if the patients are maintained hypothermic during surgery. 42 However hypothermia as a therapy has not shown any improvement in survival among patients with ALF but has been used as a therapeutic bridge to transplantation. 43 Hypothermia in the above mentioned studies has been used for not more than 8 h, and prolonged hypothermia is well known to cause cardiac arrhythmia and coagulopathy.…”

Section: Hypothermiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Management in Acute Liver Failure

Shalimar

Acharya

2015

Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hepatology

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Acute liver failure (ALF) is a rare, potentially fatal complication of severe hepatic illness resulting from various causes. In a clinical setting, severe hepatic injury is usually recognised by the appearance of jaundice, encephalopathy and coagulopathy. The central and most important clinical event in ALF is occurrence of hepatic encephalopathy (HE) and cerebral edema which is responsible for most of the fatalities in this serious clinical syndrome. The pathogenesis of encephalopathy and cerebral edema in ALF is unique and multifactorial. Ammonia plays a central role in the pathogenesis. The role of newer ammonia lowering agents is still evolving. Liver transplant is the only effective therapy that has been identified to be of promise in those with poor prognostic factors, whereas in the others, aggressive intensive medical management has been documented to salvage a substantial proportion of patients. A small fraction of patients undergo liver transplant and the remaining are usually treated with medical therapy. Therefore, identification of the complications and causes of death in such patients, and use of appropriate prognostic models to identify those who need liver transplant and those who can be managed with medical treatment is a vital component of therapeutic strategy. In this review, we discuss the various pathogenetic mechanisms and treatment options available. ( J CLIN EXP HEPATOL 2015;5:S104-S115)A cute liver failure (ALF) can be a fatal complication of acute hepatic injury and occurs unpredictably. It is a rare clinical entity marked by the sudden loss of hepatic function and a severe life-threatening course in a person with no prior history of liver disease. ALF represents a syndrome rather than a specific disease, having multiple causes that vary in course and outcome. ALF is difficult to identify in its early stages, resulting in frequent delays in initiation of treatment. The causes of ALF include viral hepatitis, drug induced and toxin-induced liver damage, metabolic errors, ischemia, and miscellaneous rare causes.ALF is defined by three criteria: (1) rapid development of hepatocellular dysfunction (jaundice, coagulopathy), (2) encephalopathy, and (3) absence of a prior history of liver disease. 1 However, the interval between onset of acute hepatic injury (jaundice) and onset of liver failure (encephalopathy with or without coagulopathy) in such patients (icterus-encephalopathy interval; IEI) has been described to be between 4 weeks (Indian definition) 2-4 to 24 weeks (AASLD-ALF study group). 5 Further, due to the diverse natural course, ALF has been sub-classified as hyperacute (IEI # 7 day), acute (IEI # 4 weeks) and sub-acute ALF (IEI $ 5 week to #12 weeks) by British authors. 6 Despite these differences in definitions, the central and most important clinical event in ALF is occurrence of hepatic encephalopathy (HE) and cerebral edema which is responsible for most of the fatalities in this serious clinical syndrome. The pathogenesis of encephalopathy and cerebral edema in ALF is unique an...

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“…Preliminary results from an ongoing study in our unit suggest that moderate hypothermia (32ЊC) may be of benefit in the treatment of uncontrolled intracranial hypertension in patients with FHF. 19 Therefore, the temperature control in a given model must be within a narrowly defined range. To account for the effect that anesthesia and laparotomy have in a model, it is imperative that appropriate control experiments are undertaken.…”

Section: Devascularized Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Animal models of fulminant hepatic failure: A critical evaluation

et al. 2000

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Few conditions in medicine are more dramatic or more devastating than acute liver failure. Our understanding and treatment of this condition have been limited by the lack of satisfactory animal models. The most widely used models consist of surgical anhepatic and devascularization procedures and hepatotoxins, such as galactosamine and acetaminophen. Potential disadvantages with surgical models are their inability to recreate the inflammatory milieu that exists in acute liver failure and their reliance on surgical expertise. Models using hepatotoxins are free of such constraints. Galactosamine-induced hepatotoxicity is more predictable than acetaminophen, but its cost and lack of a human equivalent clinical syndrome has restricted its use. Acetaminophen-based models offer the greatest potential but have proven the most difficult to develop because of difficulties with reproducibility and refractory anemia. Although progress has been made, research must continue in this area to establish an animal model with minimal disadvantages that would accurately reflect the clinical syndrome seen in humans.

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Moderate hypothermia for uncontrolled intracranial hypertension in acute liver failure

Cited by 339 publications

References 26 publications

Pathogenesis of Hepatic Encephalopathy: Role of Ammonia and Systemic Inflammation

Pathogenesis of Hepatic Encephalopathy: Role of Ammonia and Systemic Inflammation

Management in Acute Liver Failure

Animal models of fulminant hepatic failure: A critical evaluation

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