Safety and Efficacy of Regional Citrate Anticoagulation during Plasma Adsorption Plus Plasma Exchange Therapy for Patients with Acute-on-Chronic Liver Failure: A Pilot Study

Background: Patients with acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) might be at risk for citrate accumulation during plasma adsorption plus plasma exchange (PE) therapy with regional citrate anticoagulation (RCA). Objectives: To assess the safety and efficacy of RCA during double plasma molecular adsorption system (DPMAS) plus PE therapy for patients with ACLF. Method: A prospective nonrandomized controlled pilot study was conducted at West China Hospital of Sichuan University. Patients with ACLF were enrolled to heparin anticoagulation (HA) group and RCA group. Serial blood samples were taken. Patients were followed up for 3 months. Results: Twenty-four patients with 94 sessions of HA and 28 patients with 106 sessions of RCA were enrolled. RCA method did not affect the therapeutic efficacy, the function of extracorporeal circulation, and the prognosis of these patients. The occurrences of citrate accumulation in RCA group were 0.0, 67.0, 100.0, 34.0, and 0.0% before DPMAS therapy, at the end of DPMAS therapy, immediately after PE therapy, 2 h after PE therapy, and the next morning, while that in HA group were 0.0, 0.0, 100.0, 7.4, and 0.0%, respectively. The occurrences of citrate accumulation at the end of DPMAS therapy and at 2 h after PE therapy in RCA group were much higher than that in HA group (67.0 vs. 0.0%, p = 0.000; 34.0 vs. 7.4%, p = 0.000, respectively). Although the trend of citrate accumulation in RCA group was much more obvious than that in HA group during and after DPMAS plus PE therapy (p = 0.000), the values on the next morning were similar between the 2 groups (p > 0.05). The main alteration of acid–base status was metabolic alkalosis with no difference between the 2 groups. Conclusions: RCA might be safe and effective in patients with ACLF receiving plasma adsorption plus PE therapy. RCA method might offer an alternative anticoagulation method for them.