ABSTRACT
The prevention and treatment of COVID-19 nationwide has entered a tackling phase. Effective treatment of severe and critically ill patients is the key to reducing the fatality of the disease. The artificial liver blood purification system can remove inflammatory factors, alleviate the damage of the inflammatory response to the body, and has important value for the treatment of severe COVID-19. Led by academician Li Lanjuan, based on the experience of treating patients across the country, integrating the opinions of experts from all over the country, the center summarized and formulated the consensus including the basic principles, treatment indications, relative contraindications, mode selection, monitoring indicators, and efficacy evaluation of artificial liver, which provides reference for treatment of severe COVID-19 patients.Copyright © 2020 by the Chinese Medical Association.
ABSTRACT
Since the December 2019 outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Wuhan, the infection has spread locally and globally resulting in a pandemic. As the numbers of confirmed diagnoses and deaths continue to rise, COVID-19 has become the focus of international public health. COVID-19 is highly contagious, and there is no effective treatment yet. New treatment strategies are urgently needed to improve the treatment success rate of severe and critically ill patients. Increasing evidence has shown that a cytokine storm plays an important role in the progression of COVID-19. The artificial-liver blood-purification system (ALS) is expected to improve the outcome of the cytokine storm. In the present study, the levels of cytokines were detected in 12 COVID-19 patients pre- and post-ALS with promising results. The present study shows promising evidence that ALS can block the cytokine storm, rapidly remove the inflammatory mediators, and hopefully, suppress the progression of the disease, thereby providing a new strategy for the clinical treatment of COVID-19.