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Background and Aims: Different modes of artificial liver support (ALS) therapy can improve the survival of patients with acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF). This study aimed to compare the effects of mixed using different modes of ALS (MALS) and single using one mode of ALS (SALS) on 28- and 90-day survival rates of ACLF., Methods: Clinical data and survival times of patients with ACLF treated for ALS between January 1, 2018 and December 30, 2021 were retrospectively collected. Cox regression analysis was performed to identify risk factors of 28- and 90-day mortalities., Results: Of the 462 eligible ACLF patients, 388 belonged to the SALS group (76.3% male, 74.2% cirrhosis) and 74 to the MALS group (86.5% male, 71.6% cirrhosis). Comparison of 28-day and 90-day crude mortality between the SALS and MALS groups showed no significant differences (28-day: 20.4% vs. 14.9%, p = 0.27; 90-day: 44.6% vs. 52.7%, p = 0.20). After adjusting for confounders, the 28-day mortality (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR]: 0.32, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.16-0.65) and 90-day mortality (aHR: 0.65, 95% CI 0.44-0.95) in the MALS group were significantly lower than those in the SALS group. These associations were consistently observed across pre-specified subgroups according to age, sex, etiology, and Child-Pugh grade. However, positive interactions between MALS and 90-day mortality were found between MALS and 90-day mortality in those with MELD score ≥ 22 and international normalized ratio ≥ 1.9 (p for interaction < 0.05)., Conclusion: MALS therapy significantly decreased 28- and 90-day mortalities of ACLF than SALS did, especially in advanced stages., (© 2023. Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver.)

Background: Patients with acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) might be at risk for citrate accumulation during plasma adsorption plus plasma exchange (PE) therapy with regional citrate anticoagulation (RCA)., Objectives: To assess the safety and efficacy of RCA during double plasma molecular adsorption system (DPMAS) plus PE therapy for patients with ACLF., Method: A prospective nonrandomized controlled pilot study was conducted at West China Hospital of Sichuan University. Patients with ACLF were enrolled to heparin anticoagulation (HA) group and RCA group. Serial blood samples were taken. Patients were followed up for 3 months., Results: Twenty-four patients with 94 sessions of HA and 28 patients with 106 sessions of RCA were enrolled. RCA method did not affect the therapeutic efficacy, the function of extracorporeal circulation, and the prognosis of these patients. The occurrences of citrate accumulation in RCA group were 0.0, 67.0, 100.0, 34.0, and 0.0% before DPMAS therapy, at the end of DPMAS therapy, immediately after PE therapy, 2 h after PE therapy, and the next morning, while that in HA group were 0.0, 0.0, 100.0, 7.4, and 0.0%, respectively. The occurrences of citrate accumulation at the end of DPMAS therapy and at 2 h after PE therapy in RCA group were much higher than that in HA group (67.0 vs. 0.0%, p = 0.000; 34.0 vs. 7.4%, p = 0.000, respectively). Although the trend of citrate accumulation in RCA group was much more obvious than that in HA group during and after DPMAS plus PE therapy (p = 0.000), the values on the next morning were similar between the 2 groups (p > 0.05). The main alteration of acid-base status was metabolic alkalosis with no difference between the 2 groups., Conclusions: RCA might be safe and effective in patients with ACLF receiving plasma adsorption plus PE therapy. RCA method might offer an alternative anticoagulation method for them., (© 2019 S. Karger AG, Basel.)