Impact of therapeutic plasma exchange intervention timing and liver injury periodization on the prognosis of patients with exertional heat stroke

Objective To explore the prognostic impact and clinical application value of therapeutic plasma exchange(TPE) intervention timing and liver injury periodization in patients with exertional heat stroke(EHS). Methods Data of 127 EHS patients from the First Medical Center of the General Hospital of the People′s Liberation Army from January 2011 to December 2023 were collected, then divided into the death group and the survival group based on therapeutic outcomes and into 5 stages according to the dynamic changes of ALT, AST, TBIL and DBIL. According to propensity score matching analysis, 11 patients in the survival group and 12 patients in the death group were included in the statistical analysis, and 20 of them were treated with TPE. The changes in indicators and clinical outcomes before and after TPE were observed, in order to evaluate the impact of intervention timing on prognosis. Results Among the 23 patients, 14 had no liver injury or could progress to the repair phase, resulting in 3 deaths(with the mortality rate of 21.43%), while 9 patients failed to progress to the repair phase, resulting in 9 deaths(with the mortality rate of 100%), with significant differences(P