Table I.
Characteristics of the study group and subgroups: a subgroup of patients receiving standard medical therapy, and a subgroup containing patients receiving standard medical therapy complemented by at least one extracorporeal liver support procedure
| Variable | Total (N = 101) | SMT group (N = 53) | SMT + ECLS group (N = 48) | p-value (SMT group vs. SMT + ECLS group) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age [years] | Mean ± SD Me (IQR) Min.–max. |
47.89 ±13.41 49 (38–57) 24–83 |
51.26 ±12.40 51 (44–59) 27–83 |
44.17 ±13.62 43.5 (34.5–55.5) 24–73 |
0.0073 |
| Etiology of severe liver dysfunction: | |||||
| Alcoholic Viral Drugs Other Mixed Unknown |
N (%) N (%) N (%) N (%) N (%) N (%) |
56 (55.45) 11 (10.89) 4 (3.96) 11 (10.89) 4 (3.96) 15 (14.85) |
27 (50.94) 9 (16.98) 3 (5.66) 4 (7.55) 2 (3.77) 8 (15.09) |
29 (60.42) 2 (4.17) 1 (2.08) 7 (14.58) 2 (4.17) 7 (14.58) |
|
| Hepatic encephalopathy | N (%) | 49 (49.00) | 27 (50.94) | 22 (46.81) | 0.6797 |
| Cirrhosis with ascites | N (%) | 60 (59.41) | 34 (64.15) | 26 (54.17) | 0.3075 |
| Hepatorenal syndrome | N (%) | 24 (23.76) | 6 (11.32) | 18 (37.50) | 0.0017 |
| Alcoholic liver disease | N (%) | 59 (60.20) | 29 (58.00) | 30 (62.50) | 0.6491 |
| GCS score | Mean ± SD Me (IQR) Min.–max. |
10.48 ±4.73 13 (5–15) 3–15 |
7.72 ±4.32 7 (4–12) 3–15 |
13.52 ±3.00 15 (14–15) 3–15 |
< 0.0001 |
| SOFA score | Mean ± SD Me (IQR) Min.–max. |
13.68 ±4.42 14 (11–17) 5–22 |
15.49 ±3.20 15 (13–17) 10–22 |
11.59 ±4.73 12.5 (7–14) 5–21 |
< 0.0001 |
| APACHE II score | Mean ± SD Me (IQR) Min.–max. |
25.39 ±9.99 25 (18–32) 4–55 |
29.94 ±8.15 29 (24–35) 15–55 |
20.15 ±9.39 18.5 (14–25) 4–43 |
< 0.0001 |
| SAPS II score | Mean ± SD Me (IQR) Min.–max. |
54.84 ±22.16 54 (37–71) 15–103 |
66.21 ±17.55 66 (56–78) 28–103 |
41.74 ±19.64 40 (27–52) 15–95 |
< 0.0001 |
| MELD UNOS Modification score | Mean ± SD Me (IQR) Min.–max. |
31.63 ±8.15 31 (25–39) 18–48 |
30.58 ±8.13 29 (23–37) 18–48 |
32.79 ±8.09 32.5 (26–39) 18–48 |
0.1681 |
| Length of hospital stay [days] | Mean ± SD Me (IQR) Min.–max. |
21.25 ±16.41 18 (7–29) 1–63 |
19.85 ±16.76 16 (7–29) 1–63 |
22.79 ±16.04 20 (9.5–29.5) 3–60 |
0.2645 |
| Length of ICU stay [days] | Mean ± SD Me (IQR) Min.–max. |
10.80 ±10.63 7 (4–13) 1–51 |
9.66 ±10.32 7 (2–12) 1–48 |
12.06 ±10.92 8.5 (5–13.5) 3–51 |
0.0643 |
| Total bilirubin [mg/dl] | Mean ± SD Me (IQR) Min.–max. |
18.91 ±12.60 18.77 (7.07–28.48) 0.66–45.54 |
10.55 ±8.89 7.27 (4.35–15.83) 0.66–36.8 |
28.14 ±9.20 28.15 (21.87–35.70) 2.71–45.54 |
< 0.0001 |
| Direct bilirubin [mg/dl] | Mean ± SD Me (IQR) Min.–max. |
21.62 ±9.47 21.3 (14.8–29.14) 0.71–43.21 |
12.32 ±7.60 12.83 (6.48–14.8) 0.71–28.26 |
23.75 ±8.58 22.69 (16.63–29.65) 2.08–43.21 |
0.0001 |
| Bile acids [µmol/l] | Mean ± SD Me (IQR) Min.–max. |
113.96 ±93.28 93.2 (61.1–138.7) 28.4–549.3 |
67.60 ±25.07 70.6 (65.7–75.1) 28.6–98 |
119.00 ±96.68 94.80 (61.10–140.60) 28.40–549.30 |
0.1408 |
| Ammonia [µg/dl]) | Mean ± SD Me (IQR) Min.–max. |
149.78 ±196.80 96.5 (70–148) 13–1535 |
194.3 ±256.49 112 (73–191) 24–1535 |
105.34 ±92.07 83 (62–135) 13–620 |
0.5138 |
| INR | Mean ± SD Me (IQR) Min.–max. |
2.42 ±0.94 2.27 (1.64–3.07) 0.86–5.46 |
2.48 ±0.94 2.31 (1.66–3.17) 1.23–4.73 |
2.35 ±0.95 2.16 (1.62–2.86) 0.86–5.46 |
0.0314 |
| Prothrombin time [s] | Mean ± SD Me (IQR) Min.–max. |
30.16 ±19.74 26.6 (18.4–36.9) 9.9–189.7 |
32.82 ±25.00 27.9 (18.4–39.88) 14.4–189.7 |
27.23 ±11.00 25.60 (18.65–32.45) 9.90–63.90 |
0.2826 |
| Creatinine [mg/dl] | Mean ± SD Me (IQR) Min.–max. |
2.58 ±2.27 1.85 (0.9–3.57) 0.1–13.52 |
2.88 ±2.45 2.39 (1.1–4.11) 0.33–13.52 |
2.25 ±2.02 1.59 (0.77–3.07) 0.10–7.76 |
0.0316 |
| Albumin [g/dl] | Mean ± SD Me (IQR) Min.–max. |
2.77 ±0.68 2.88 (2.21–3.21) 0.9–4.47 |
2.60 ±0.73 2.545 (2.11–3.1) 0.9–4.16 |
2.93 ±0.61 3.00 (2.47–3.21) 1.80–4.47 |
0.0793 |
| Liver dialyses | Mean ± SD Me (IQR) Min.–max. |
– | 4.35 ±2.78 3 (3–6) 1–12 |
||
| FPSA | Mean ± SD Me (IQR) Min.–max. |
– | 0.35 ±0.91 0 (0–0) 0–5 |
||
| SPAD | Mean ± SD Me (IQR) Min.–max. |
– | 4.00 ±2.63 3 (2–5.5) 0–12 |
||
| CRRT during ICU stay | N (%) | 42 (41.58) | 17 (32.08) | 25 (52.08) | 0.0416 |
APACHE – Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation, CRRT – continuous renal replacement therapy, ECLS – extracorporeal liver support, GCS – Glasgow Coma Scale, FPSA – fractionated plasma separation and adsorption, ICU – intensive care unit, INR – prothrombin ratio, IQR – interquartile range, MELD UNOS – Model of End-stage Liver Disease United Network for Organ Sharing, SAPS – Simplified Acute Physiology Score, SD – standard deviation, SMT – standard medical therapy, SOFA – Sequential Organ Failure Assessment, SPAD – single pass albumin dialysis.