Brief report : treatment of hepatic failure with ex vivo pig-liver perfusion followed by liver transplantation

Liver transplantation is associated with higher mortality for patients with fulminant hepatic failure than for patients with chronic liver disease, however. Methods Consent An experimental protocol, based on preliminary experiments in animals, was approved by the institutional review board of the Duke University Medical Center. All patients were too ill to consent. [...]informed consent was obtained from their next of kin, after the experimental nature of the procedure was explained. Serologic studies were positive for hepatitis B surface antigen and hepatitis B core antibody (IgM). Because of the rapid course of her liver failure, the patient's family consented to pig-liver perfusion in the hope of reversing the encephalopathy.