• Corpus ID: 40496720

Molecular adsorbent recirculating system ( MARS ) dialysis for fulminant hepatic failure due to paracetamol overdose in children

@inproceedings{COVICa2010MolecularAR,
  title={Molecular adsorbent recirculating system ( MARS ) dialysis for fulminant hepatic failure due to paracetamol overdose in children},
  author={Adrian COVICa and Paul GUSBETH-TATOMIRa and Carmen VOLOVATa and David J. A. GOLDSMITHc},
  year={2010}
}

• Adrian COVICa, Paul GUSBETH-TATOMIRa, +1 author David J. A. GOLDSMITHc
• Published 2010
• Medicine, Biology

Paracetamol is a widely used drug, accidental overdosing being particularly encountered in children. The resulting acute liver failure is a therapeutic challenge. There is little agreement on the optimal therapy in paracetamol overdose. Gastric lavage, activated charcoal ingestion and N-acetylcysteine administration are usually effective just shortly after the poisoning, whereas the usefulness of high-flux haemodialysis and haemoperfusion is controversial. Recently, use of “liver dialysis” (or “albumin dialysis”) showed promising results in the treatment of acute liver failure from various aethiologies. We describe a case of accidental paracetamol overdosing in a 4-year boy, admitted 4 days after the ingestion of 154 mg/ Kg body weight of paracetamol for four days. We treated him successfully with two sessions of albumin dialysis (MARS – ”Molecular Adsorbent Recirculating System”) for fulminant liver failure and grade III hepatic encephalopathy. After two sessions of MARS dialysis, the patients had a spectacular clinical recovery. The patient was discharged 12 days after admission with normal liver enzymes. Our case suggests that albumin dialysis may be feasible treatment option in acute liver failure due to paracetamol overdose.