Acute-on-chronic liver failure will be treated with device that cleans patients’ blood corrupted by toxins
The NHS is to trial a potentially life-saving new treatment for a deadly liver disease that causes the body’s vital organs to fail.
Thirteen major hospitals will use a device that cleans patients’ blood that has become corrupted by toxins as a result of them developing acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF).
ACLF is a severe and hard-to-treat form of liver disease linked to obesity, alcohol and hepatitis, in which patients suddenly deteriorate and have to be admitted to intensive care. Three out of four people affected are only diagnosed when it has already become life-threatening.
Seven out of 10 people with the disease die within 28 days and only a handful of those affected are eligible for a liver transplant, which is the only existing way to reverse ACLF.
