Biomaterial Database

Bioartificial liver support. Review and personal experience. 2003

G Ambrosino, and D F D'Amico

Liver Transplant Unit, Department of Surgery and Gastroenterological Science, University of Padua Medical School, Padua, Italy.

End-stage liver disease is treated successfully by liver transplantation. In spite of the recent advances in transplantation techniques, donor organ shortage remains a serious problem. Conditions such as fulminant hepatic failure are still burdened by a high mortality rate. This has prompted the design of an extracorporeal liver assist device, to "bridge" patients over until they either recover or receive a liver transplant. In these devices, various types of liver cells are inserted and different device designs have been proposed. The paper will review different models of bioartificial liver and will describe ongoing clinical trials. At the end we will report our experimental experience with a newly designed bioartificial liver, evaluating its beneficial effect on acute liver failure.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008099	Liver	A large lobed glandular organ in the abdomen of vertebrates that is responsible for detoxification, metabolism, synthesis and storage of various substances.	Livers
D002986	Clinical Trials as Topic	Works about pre-planned studies of the safety, efficacy, or optimum dosage schedule (if appropriate) of one or more diagnostic, therapeutic, or prophylactic drugs, devices, or techniques selected according to predetermined criteria of eligibility and observed for predefined evidence of favorable and unfavorable effects. This concept includes clinical trials conducted both in the U.S. and in other countries.	Clinical Trial as Topic
D004867	Equipment Design	Methods and patterns of fabricating machines and related hardware.	Design, Equipment,Device Design,Medical Device Design,Design, Medical Device,Designs, Medical Device,Device Design, Medical,Device Designs, Medical,Medical Device Designs,Design, Device,Designs, Device,Designs, Equipment,Device Designs,Equipment Designs
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D017093	Liver Failure	Severe inability of the LIVER to perform its normal metabolic functions, as evidenced by severe JAUNDICE and abnormal serum levels of AMMONIA; BILIRUBIN; ALKALINE PHOSPHATASE; ASPARTATE AMINOTRANSFERASE; LACTATE DEHYDROGENASES; and albumin/globulin ratio. (Blakiston's Gould Medical Dictionary, 4th ed)	Hepatic Failure
D019149	Bioreactors	Tools or devices for generating products using the synthetic or chemical conversion capacity of a biological system. They can be classical fermentors, cell culture perfusion systems, or enzyme bioreactors. For production of proteins or enzymes, recombinant microorganisms such as bacteria, mammalian cells, or insect or plant cells are usually chosen.	Fermentors,Bioreactor,Fermentor
D019164	Liver, Artificial	Devices for simulating the activities of the liver. They often consist of a hybrid between both biological and artificial materials.	Artificial Liver,Bioartificial Liver,Artificial Livers,Bioartificial Livers,Liver, Bioartificial,Livers, Artificial,Livers, Bioartificial