Artificial Liver Support

Continuing progress has been made since the first edition of Artificial Liver Support was published. Liver transplantation has however become an estab lished therapy for a relatively small number of patients who remain patients for life. There therefore continues to be a great need for the development of other forms of artificial liver support. Improved intensive care utilizing improved plasma exchange, dialysis, sclerotherapy, and intracranial pressure monitoring have improved survival in fulminant hepatic failure. Progress has also been made in lipid membrane detoxification, in cell cultures, and in cell transplantation, and the isolation of various liver cell growth factors has led to deep insight into the mechanisms of liver regeneration. This book gives the clinician and the researcher detailed information about established new methods of clinic work and laboratory research, and describes new experimental approaches indicating the direction of future research. G. BRUNNER M. Mno Preface to the First Edition The regenerative capacity of the liver cell is almost unlimited. Therefore after acute liver damage, be it viral, toxic, hypoxic, or surgical in origin, restitutio ad integrum is the usual outcome. In two forms of liver disease, however, this is not the case: in fulminant hepatic failure, liver regeneration often is not fast enough to keep the organism alive; in end-stage cirrhosis, regeneration is disturbed by a hypertrophic architecture of fibrotic tissue. For these extreme forms of liver disease and for critical situations before and after liver surgery, artificial liver support is needed.

For years clinicians and scientists have been trying to improve the treatment of acute hepatic failure. Hemodialysis procedures were refined. The treatment of fulminant hepatic failure and end-stage liver cirrhosis by liver transplantation became a standard procedure. For the successful management of critical situations before and after liver surgery, artificial liver support is required. An overview is provided of the possibilities and limitations of the existing procedures and devices available for artificial liver support. The results achieved with albumin dialysis, the Prometheus System, and dialysis and hemofiltration or plasma exchange, as well as modular extracorporeal liver support and the Amsterdam bioartificial liver, and their effects are discussed. The book addresses the remaining problems and expectations for the future of clinical hepatocyte transplantation and stem cell therapy. An exceptional overview of the problems and future perspectives in the field of artificial liver support.

Continuing progress has been made since the first edition of Artificial Liver Support was published. Liver transplantation has however become an estab lished therapy for a relatively small number of patients who remain patients for life. There therefore continues to be a great need for the development of other forms of artificial liver support. Improved intensive care utilizing improved plasma exchange, dialysis, sclerotherapy, and intracranial pressure monitoring have improved survival in fulminant hepatic failure. Progress has also been made in lipid membrane detoxification, in cell cultures, and in cell transplantation, and the isolation of various liver cell growth factors has led to deep insight into the mechanisms of liver regeneration. This book gives the clinician and the researcher detailed information about established new methods of clinic work and laboratory research, and describes new experimental approaches indicating the direction of future research. G. BRUNNER M. Mno Preface to the First Edition The regenerative capacity of the liver cell is almost unlimited. Therefore after acute liver damage, be it viral, toxic, hypoxic, or surgical in origin, restitutio ad integrum is the usual outcome. In two forms of liver disease, however, this is not the case: in fulminant hepatic failure, liver regeneration often is not fast enough to keep the organism alive; in end-stage cirrhosis, regeneration is disturbed by a hypertrophic architecture of fibrotic tissue. For these extreme forms of liver disease and for critical situations before and after liver surgery, artificial liver support is needed.

This book introduces the clinical application of artificial liver system (ALS) in hepatic failure. It has been widely used in clinics aiming to provide temporary support of liver function while maintaining extra-hepatic function in patients with liver failure. This work comprehensively summarizes the progress of livers and artificial liver, for example, the principle and implementation of Li-ALS, cell transplantation and the combined application of artificial liver and liver transplantation. It will be helpful for clinicians to implement artificial liver treatment to save the lives of patients with hepatic failure.

Chronic liver failure is a frequent condition in clinical practice that encompasses all manifestations of patients with end-stage liver diseases. Chronic liver failure is a multiorgan syndrome that affects the liver, kidneys, brain, heart, lungs, adrenal glands, and vascular, coagulation, and immune systems. Chronic Liver Failure: Mechanisms and Management covers for the first time all aspects of chronic liver failure in a single book, from pathogenesis to current management. Each chapter is written by a worldwide known expert in their area and all provide the latest state-of-the-art knowledge. This volume is specifically designed to provide answers to clinical questions to all doctors dealing with patients with liver diseases, not only clinical gastroenterologists and hepatologists, but also to internists, nephrologists, intensive care physicians, and transplant surgeons.

An important resource that puts the focus on the chemical engineering aspects of biomedical engineering In the past 50 years remarkable achievements have been advanced in the fields of biomedical and chemical engineering. With contributions from leading chemical engineers, Biomedical Engineering Challenges reviews the recent research and discovery that sits at the interface of engineering and biology. The authors explore the principles and practices that are applied to the ever-expanding array of such new areas as gene-therapy delivery, biosensor design, and the development of improved therapeutic compounds, imaging agents, and drug delivery vehicles. Filled with illustrative case studies, this important resource examines such important work as methods of growing human cells and tissues outside the body in order to repair or replace damaged tissues. In addition, the text covers a range of topics including the challenges faced with developing artificial lungs, kidneys, and livers; advances in 3D cell culture systems; and chemical reaction methodologies for biomedical imagining analysis. This vital resource: Covers interdisciplinary research at the interface between chemical engineering, biology, and chemistry Provides a series of valuable case studies describing current themes in biomedical engineering Explores chemical engineering principles such as mass transfer, bioreactor technologies as applied to problems such as cell culture, tissue engineering, and biomedical imaging Written from the point of view of chemical engineers, this authoritative guide offers a broad-ranging but concise overview of research at the interface of chemical engineering and biology.