Therapeutic hypothermia in acute liver failure: a multicenter retrospective cohort analysis.

ABSTRACT: The benefit of therapeutic hypothermia (TH) in acute liver failure (ALF) has not been previously demonstrated in a controlled fashion. This study sought to determine the impact of TH on 21-day survival and complications in ALF patients at high risk for cerebral edema. This was a retrospective cohort study of ALF patients in the US Acute Liver Failure Study Group with grade III or IV hepatic encephalopathy. TH (32°C-35°C) was used in 97 patients (8%); 1135 (92%) who were not cooled were controls. Intracranial pressure was monitored in 38 TH ALF patients (39.2% versus 22% of controls, P < 0.001). Rates of bleeding (12% for both) and bloodstream (17% versus 18%) and tracheal infections (21% versus 23%, P > 0.5 for all) were similar. Unadjusted 21-day overall (62% versus 60%) and transplant-fr

SUBMITTER: Karvellas CJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4939841 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature