Waiting for a transplant (*)

Terminal hepatitis is generally a massive destruction of the liver. Its only solution is replacing the organ through a transplant, even though this is not always possible due to the low availability of donors. In pediatrics the mortality by terminal hepatitis is above 80%. 16% of children waiting a liver transplant in Argentina die. 25% of those who successfully receive a transplant have irreversible complications, among the worst being of the kidney and neurological.

The bio-artificial liver is a development destined to patients with terminal hepatitis, specially children. It is a certain possibility for patients, whose only hope is transplant, staying alive and reaching the transplant in good condition, preventing complications. Currently, a team lead by Dr. Pablo Argibay is carrying out this development in the Hospital Italiano of Buenos Aires.

The idea is to have a system during the wait for the implant that achieves the functions of:
• Detoxification and therefore low intracranial pressure, one of the fundamental problems in patients with liver failure;
• Synthesis for avoiding complications such as hemorrhage (for lack of coagulation agents) and sepsis;
• Good hemo-dynamic handling and substitution of the kidney failure, common in these cases.

The bio-artificial liver has seemed to fulfill these conditions during the experimental phase.

Collaborated in this article: Dr. Pablo Argibay

The bio-artificial liver • Part II: a device for children is already available.

The spermogram is a laboratory analysis that evaluates diverse parameters.