Albumin-Coated Amberlite XAD-7 Resin for Hemoperfusion in Acute Liver Failure: Part II: In Vivo Evaluation

Albumin-coated Amberlite XAD-7 has been previously shown to be blood compatible in in vitro hemoperfusion experiments whith human blood. In this study, the preliminary results are reported on single hemoperfusions with albumin-coated XAD-7 resin in four patients with acute liver failure. The mean platelet count was 116+/-SE 16.3% of the initial arterial value and the mean white cell count was 96+/-SE 6.5% of initial at the end of four hours of hemoperfusion. Removal of bilirubin, phenols and substances in the middle molecular weight range by the resin was demonstrated. These preliminary results suggest albumin-coated Amberlite XAD-7 resin to be blood compatible and capable of removing protein-bound and middle molecular weight substances from patients with acute liver failure. Further clinical evaluation of repeated resin hemoperfusion is required to determine whether this treatment will be beneficial to patient survival.