1 May 2007Article
Prognostic index of acute hepato-cellular damage
Cataldo Doria 1Giorgio Nicotra 2Grazia D’Antona 3Salvatore Travali 2Angelo Messina 2Ignazio Marino 1Giuseppe Gruttadauria 4
Affiliations
Article Info
1 Jefferson Medical College Div. Trapianti Organi Addominali Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, USA
2 Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche Sezioni di Patologia Generale e Patologia Molecolare, Università di Catania
3 Servizio Centralizzato di Stabulazione, Università di Catania
4 Dipartimento di Chirurgia Sezione di Chirurgia Generale e Fisiopatologia Chirurgica, Università di Catania
Ann. Ital. Chir., 2007, 78(3), 169-176;
Published: 1 May 2007
Copyright © 2007 Annali Italiani di Chirurgia
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Fulminant hepatic failure is the end result of many different acute damage to the liver. In the present study we compared the clinical to the experimental experience and we postulated the usage of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in the clinical arena as a potential treatment in alternative to liver transplantation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twelve patient diagnosed with fulminat hepatic failure have been enclosed in the present study. Each patient underwent trans-jugular liver biopsy in order to assess the degree of liver necrosis as well as the following biochemical investigation: AST, ALT, Total Bilirubin, _gt, alkaline phosphatase, prothrombin time. RESULTS: Twenty-five percent of those patients required support in the Intensive Care Unit without need for transplantation. Forty-one percent of those patients underwent liver transplantation, and 36% of them died before the liver become available. These results were compared with an experiment, previously performed by our group, where 260 rats were poisoned with CCl4 and subsequently treated with Vascula Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF). CONCLUSION: The rate of the hepatic regeneration has been found to be critical in the prognosis of patients diagnosed with fulminant hepatic failure.
Keywords
- Endothelium
- Fulminant hepatitis
- Growth factors
- Liver transplant
- Regenerative activity