Table 1. Baseline patient characteristics: Comparison of MARS and standard medical treatment (SMT).
| Laboratory Parameter | MARS (n = 32) | SMT (n = 41) | p-value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age (years) | mean (SD) | 48.9 (17.8) | 49.4 (16.0) | 0.925 | |
| range | 18–76 | 21–85 | |||
| Male sex, n (%) | 20 (62.5) | 23 (56.1) | 0.581 | ||
| Body weight (kg), mean (SD) | 82.1 (18.1) | 75.9 (21.5) | 0.146 | ||
| Etiology of liver disease, n (%) | Paracetamol | 2 (6.2) | 1 (2.4) | ||
| Non-paracetamol | 20 (62.5) | 30 (73.2) | |||
| Viral | 1 | 7 | |||
| Autoimmune | 0 | 9 | |||
| Drug-induced | 15 | 12 | |||
| Mushroom poisoning/toxin | 0 | 0 | |||
| Unknown/other | 4 | 2 | |||
| Graft dysfunction | 10 (31.3) | 10 (24.4) | |||
| Rejection | 5 | 2 | |||
| Biliary casts | 2 | 3 | |||
| Unknown/other | 3 | 5 | |||
| Hepatic encephalopathy, n (%) | Grade ≤1 | 32 (100) | 38 (92.7) | 0.417 | |
| Grade 2–3 | 0 | 3 (7.3) | |||
| Mechanical ventilation, n | 0 | 0 | n.a. | ||
| MAP (mmHg) | 97.6 (11.5) | 98.6 (14.8) | 0.804 | ||
| Vasopressors, n | 0 | 0 | n.a. | ||
| Heart rate (bpm) | 75.9 (8.6) | 82.3 (14.9) | 0.206 | ||
| Laboratory data, mean (SD) | Total bilirubin (mg/dL) | 18.8 (9.3) | 14.9 (8.0) | 0.037 | |
| AST (U/L) | 570.5 (721.2) | 1079.1 (915.1) | 0.011 | ||
| ALT (U/L) | 826.7 (703.7) | 1414.5 (1298.4) | 0.058 | ||
| Serum sodium (mEq/L) | 136.5 (3.8) | 138.2 (3.8) | 0.127 | ||
| Serum potassium (mEq/L) | 4.0 (4.9) | 3.9 (0.5) | 0.333 | ||
| Creatinine (mg/dL) | 1.2 (0.6) | 1.3 (1.2) | 0.740 | ||
| BUN (mg/dL) | 24.8 (18.1) | 20.0 (13.9) | 0.235 | ||
| White blood count (103 cells/μL) | 7.7 (3.3) | 7.2 (2.96) | 0.687 | ||
| Hemoglobin (g/dL) | 11.9 (2.2) | 12.8 (2.8) | 0.055 | ||
| Platelets (103 cells/μL) | 229.8 (109.9) | 182.4 (92.8) | 0.074 | ||
| Albumin (g/dL) | 3.4 (0.5) | 3.2 (0.5) | 0.768 | ||
| Prothrombin level (Quick) (%) | 72.9 (26.8) | 56.4 (20.5) | 0.012 | ||
| INR | 1.3 (0.3) | 1.5 (0.5) | 0.015 | ||
| MELD Score, mean (SD) | 20.6 (7.1) | 22.5 (4.8) | 0.555 |
Abbr.: MAP: Mean arterial pressure; BUN: blood urea nitrogen; INR: international normalized ratio; MELD: model of end-stage liver disease; SD: standard deviation; AST: aspartate transaminase; ALT: alanine transaminase