Can Patients Who Develop Cerebral Death in Fulminant Liver Failure Despite Liver Transplantation Be Previously Forseen?

BACKGROUND: The outcome of medical treatment is worse in fulminant liver failure (FLF) developing on acute or chronic ground. Recently, liver transplantations with the use of living and cadaveric donors have been performed in these diseases and good results obtained. In this study, we aimed to present the factors affecting the recovery of cerebral functions after liver transplantation in hepatic encephalopathy (HE) developing in FLF, to identify irreversible patient groups and to prevent unnecessary liver transplantation. METHODS: In Inonu University's Liver Transplant Institute, 69 patients who made an emergency notice to the National Coordination Center for liver transplantation owing to FLF from January 2012 to December 2015 were included in the study. Patients were divided into 2 groups. Group 1 consisted of 52 patients who underwent liver transplantation and recovered normal brain function, and group 2 had 17 patients who underwent liver transplantation and did not recover normal brain function and had cerebral death. All patients were evaluated before surgery for clinical encephalopathy stage, light reflex, and convulsions. Groups were compared and assessed according to age (>40, 10-40 and <10 years), body mass index, etiologic factor, preoperative laboratory values, transplantation type, mortality, and encephalopathy level. Multivariate analysis was done for specific parameters. RESULTS: Prothrombin time (PT), international normalized ratio (INR), and total bilirubin values were significantly different between the groups. There was no significant difference between the groups regarding ammonia and lactate levels. There was a statistically significant difference between the groups regarding sodium and potassium levels from serum electrolytes. However, the averages of both groups were within normal limits. pH and total bilirubin levels were meaningful for multivariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS: HE reversibility, mortality, and morbidity are important in patients with HE who undergo liver transplantation. Therefore, West Haven clinical staging and serum INR, PT, and total bilirubin level may be helpful in predicting the reversibility of FLF patients with HE before liver transplantation. It was determined that West Haven encephalopathy grading is important in determining the reversibility of HE after transplantation in FLF; especially the probability of reversibility of stage 4 HE decreases significantly. High PT and INR levels, hyperbilirubinemia, and serum sodium and potassium concentrations were risk factors for the reversibility of HE in this study.

P50 sensory gating in hypoxemic chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients.

PURPOSE: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a condition characterized by progressive airway obstruction and recurrent attacks. Multisystem involvement with extrapulmonary manifestations has been seen in COPD patients. Numerous neurological involvement like cerebrovascular diseases, polyneuropathies, motor neuron diseases and cognitive impairement has been reported in COPD patients. Cognitive dysfunction is usually associated with hypoxia or hypercapnia in COPD patients. To our knowledge there is no study about sensory gating in COPD patients. We performed p50 test to COPD patients and we investigate sensory gating in COPD patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 25 male patients with COPD and 17 healthy male subjects for controls included to this study. The patients were diagnosed with COPD according to the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) criteria. p50 amplitude and latency, percentage of P50 suppression, N100 amplitude and latency and the N100 suppression percentage of the COPD patients and controls presented were measured and compared. RESULTS: We found that the conditioning amplitudes (S1) did not differ between COPD patients and controls (p > 0.05) but (S2) amplitude was significantly increased in COPD patients (p < 0.05). COPD patients showed significantly lower P50 and N100 suppression percentage than controls (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: COPD patients showed a disturbance cognitive function such as attention with p50 suppression rate decrease. P50 sensory gating test can be useful to analyze the pre-attention period of cognitive impairment in the early phase of COPD patients.