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To assess the significance of an analogue of the mean systemic filling pressure (Pmsa) and its derived variables, in providing a physiology based discrimination between responders and non-responders to fluid resuscitation during liver surgery. A post-hoc analysis of data from 30 patients undergoing major hepatic surgery was performed. Patients received 15 ml kg-1 fluid in 30 min. Fluid responsiveness (FR) was defined as an increase of 20% or greater in cardiac index, measured by FloTrac-Vigileo®. Dynamic preload variables (pulse pressure variation and stroke volume variation: PPV, SVV) were recorded additionally. Pvr, the driving pressure for venous return (=Pmsa-central venous pressure) and heart performance (EH; Pvr/Pmsa) were calculated according to standard formula. Pmsa increased following fluid administration in responders (n = 18; from 13 ± 3 to 17 ± 4 mmHg, p < 0.01) and in non-responders (n = 12; from 14 ± 4 to 17 ± 4 mmHg, p < 0.01). Pvr, which was lower in responders before fluid administration (6 ± 1 vs. 7 ± 1 mmHg; p = 0.02), increased after fluid administration only in responders (from 6 ± 1 to 8 ± 1 mmHg; p < 0.01). EH only decreased in non-responders (from 0.56 ± 0.17 to 0.45 ± 0.12; p < 0.05). The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve of Pvr, PPV and SVV for predicting FR was 0.75, 0.73 and 0.72, respectively. Changes in Pmsa, Pvr and EH reflect changes in effective circulating volume and heart performance following fluid resuscitation, providing a physiologic discrimination between responders and non-responders. Also, Pvr predicts FR equivalently compared to PPV and SVV, and might therefore aid in predicting FR in case dynamic preload variables cannot be used.

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The dye indocyanine green is familiar to anaesthetists, and has been studied for more than half a century for cardiovascular and hepatic function monitoring. It is still, however, not yet in routine clinical use in anaesthesia and critical care, at least in Europe. This review is intended to provide a critical analysis of the available evidence concerning the indications for clinical measurement of indocyanine green elimination as a diagnostic and prognostic tool in two areas: its role in peri-operative liver function monitoring during major hepatic resection and liver transplantation; and its role in critically ill patients on the intensive care unit, where it is used for prediction of mortality, and for assessment of the severity of acute liver failure or that of intra-abdominal hypertension. Although numerous studies have demonstrated that indocyanine green elimination measurements in these patient populations can provide diagnostic or prognostic information to the clinician, 'hard' evidence - i.e. high-quality prospective randomised controlled trials - is lacking, and therefore it is not yet time to give a green light for use of indocyanine green in routine clinical practice.

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Early postoperative complications after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) are a common problem in intensive care medicine. Adequate assessment of initial graft function remains difficult, however, plasma disaperance rate of indocyanine green (PDRICG) may have an additional diagnostic and prognostic value in this setting. We retrospectively evaluated the ability of intraoperative PDRICG values to predict absence of early postoperative complications in 62 subjects. PDRICG was measured non-invasively by pulse dye densitometry during surgery and was correlated with initial graft function. At the end of surgery, PDRICG was higher in patients without complications: 24.9 % min(-1) (n = 40) versus 21.0 % min(-1), (n = 22; p = 0.034). An area under the ROC curve (AUROC) for PDRICG was 0.70, while the AUROC for pH, lactate and PT at ICU admission were 0.53, 0.50 and 0.46, respectively. The AUROC of serum bilirubin and PT at postoperative day 5 were 0.68 and 0.49, respectively. The optimal cut-off PDRICG value for predicting absence of development early postoperative complications was determined to be 23.5 % min(-1) with 72.4 % sensitivity and 71.0 % specificity. Intraoperative point-of-care PDRICG measurement during OLT already predicts absence of early postoperative complications, better and earlier than clinically used laboratory parameters.

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BACKGROUND: Dynamic preload variables to predict fluid responsiveness are based either on the arterial pressure waveform (APW) or on the plethysmographic waveform (PW). We compared the ability of APW-based variations in stroke volume (SVV) and pulse pressure (PPV) and of PW-based plethysmographic variability index (PVI) to predict fluid responsiveness and to track fluid changes in patients undergoing major hepatic resection. Furthermore, we assessed whether the PPV/SVV ratio, as a measure of dynamic arterial elastance (Eadyn), could predict a reduction in norepinephrine requirement after fluid administration. METHODS: Thirty patients received i.v. fluid (15 ml kg(-1) in 30 min) after hepatic resection and were considered responders when stroke volume index (SVI) increased ≥20% after fluid administration. SVV and SVI were measured by the FloTrac-Vigileo(®) device, and PVI was measured by the Masimo Radical 7 pulse co-oximeter(®). RESULTS: The areas under a receiver operating characteristic curve for SVV, PPV, and PVI were 0.81, 0.77, and 0.78, respectively. In responders, all dynamic variables, except PVI, decreased after fluid administration. Eadyn predicted a reduced norepinephrine requirement (AUC = 0.81). CONCLUSIONS: In patients undergoing major hepatic resection, both APW- and PW-based dynamic preload variables predict fluid responsiveness (preload) to a similar extent. Most variables (except PVI) also tracked fluid changes. Eadyn, as a measure of arterial elastance (afterload), might be helpful to distinguish the origin of hypotension. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01060683.

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BACKGROUND: The Masimo Radical 7 (Masimo Corp., Irvine, CA, USA) pulse co-oximeter(®) calculates haemoglobin concentration (SpHb) non-invasively using transcutaneous spectrophotometry. We compared SpHb with invasive satellite-lab haemoglobin monitoring (Hb(satlab)) during major hepatic resections both under steady-state conditions and in a dynamic phase with fluid administration of crystalloid and colloid solutions. METHODS: Thirty patients undergoing major hepatic resection were included and randomized to receive a fluid bolus of 15 ml kg(-1) colloid (n=15) or crystalloid (n=15) solution over 30 min. SpHb was continuously measured on the index finger, and venous blood samples were analysed in both the steady-state phase (from induction until completion of parenchymal transection) and the dynamic phase (during fluid bolus). RESULTS: Correlation was significant between SpHb and Hb(satlab) (R(2)=0.50, n=543). The modified Bland-Altman analysis for repeated measurements showed a bias (precision) of -0.27 (1.06) and -0.02 (1.07) g dl(-1) for the steady-state and dynamic phases, respectively. SpHb accuracy increased when Hb(satlab) was <10 g dl(-1), with a bias (precision) of 0.41 (0.47) vs -0.26 (1.12) g dl(-1) for values >10 g dl(-1), but accuracy decreased after colloid administration (R(2)=0.25). CONCLUSIONS: SpHb correlated moderately with Hb(satlab) with a slight underestimation in both phases in patients undergoing major hepatic resection. Accuracy increased for lower Hb(satlab) values but decreased in the presence of colloid solution. Further improvements are necessary to improve device accuracy under these conditions, so that SpHb might become a sensitive screening device for clinically significant anaemia.

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Patients with liver disease show profound changes in their hemostatic system, which may further change during liver transplantation. We previously demonstrated that highly elevated levels of the platelet adhesive protein von Willebrand factor (VWF) in patients with cirrhosis lead to an increased VWF-dependent platelet deposition under flow as compared to healthy controls. In this study we examined VWF parameters during the course of liver transplantation. We collected serial plasma samples from 20 patients undergoing liver transplantation in which we determined plasma levels of VWF and the VWF-cleaving protease ADAMTS13. Furthermore, we performed functional tests of VWF-dependent platelet adhesion. We found persistently elevated levels of VWF during and after liver transplantation. The capacity of VWF to interact with platelets normalized during the course of transplantation, and flow-mediated VWF-dependent platelet adhesion remained at levels far exceeding those observed in healthy individuals during and after transplantation. Plasma levels of ADAMTS13 dropped during transplantation, and in four patients levels below 10% of normal were observed after reperfusion. We observed the development of a hyperreactive primary hemostatic system, as evidenced by high levels of fully functional VWF and a temporary ADAMTS13 deficiency, during liver transplantation, and speculate that these changes contribute to postoperative thrombotic complications.

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Liver transplantation is the treatment of choice in selected patients with end-stage liver disease. Postoperative complications often require surgical re-intervention. This study is a retrospective single-centre study to assess the incidence and type of surgical re-intervention during the in-hospital period after liver transplantation and to identify predictors of this re-intervention. From 1994 to 2002, 231 consecutive adult liver transplantations were performed. Re-intervention was classified as biliary, vascular, bleeding, septicaemia, re-transplantation or as miscellaneous. One hundred and thirty-nine surgical re-interventions were performed in 79 of 231 patients (34%). Septicaemia (44%) and bleeding (27%) were the most frequent indications for re-intervention, followed by biliary (10%) re-intervention. Vascular re-intervention, re-transplantation, and re-intervention for miscellaneous reasons, were performed in 7% each. Of all analysed variables (gender, age, diagnosis, acute liver failure, Child-Pugh classification, Karnofsky score, previous abdominal surgery, creatinine clearance, prothrombin time, anti-thrombin, platelet count, surgical technique, cold ischaemia time, warm ischaemia time, functional anhepatic time, anatomic anhepatic time, revascularisation time, year of transplantation, aprotinin administration, transfused platelet concentrate, and red blood cell transfusion requirements), only the number of transfused red blood cell concentrates (RBCs) was identified as a predictor of surgical re-intervention. Median RBC transfusion requirement during liver transplantation was 2.9 l (range 0-18.8 l) in the re-intervention group compared with 1.5 l (range 0-13.4 l) in the non-re-intervention group (P<0.001). This study revealed intraoperative blood loss as the main determinant of early surgical re-intervention after liver transplantation and emphasises the need for further attempts to control blood loss during liver transplantation.

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Besides the conventional laboratory tests, thromboelastography (TEG) is used to monitor hemostasis during liver transplantation. A previous pilot study suggested a beneficial effect of recombinant activated factor VII (rFVIIa) on transfusion requirements in liver transplantation. In the present study, we assess the effects of rFVIIa on coagulation variables and TEG. In six study patients, the prothrombin time (PT), the activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) and TEG variables [reaction time (r), kinetic time (k), or clot formation time, alpha angle (alpha), and maximal amplitude (MA)] were recorded before and after the administration of a bolus of 80 microg/kg rFVIIa. These patients were compared with six controls who did not receive rFVIIa. In contrast with the control group, a significant shortening of PT (P = 0.028) and aPTT (P = 0.028), r (P = 0.046) and k (P = 0.043) values, and a significant incline of the alpha angle (P = 0.028) were noticed after injection of rFVIIa, whereas MA increased not significantly (P = 0.075). rFVIIa rapidly improved coagulation variables in liver transplant patients including PT and aPTT. Of the TEG variables, r, k and alpha angle significantly improved, and MA showed a trend to increase. These data suggest that rFVIIa not only influences the speed of clot formation, but also the physical properties of the clot, which cannot be detected by routine coagulation tests.

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