Andhra Pradesh woman survives rat poisoning after special liver treatment by doctors
Despite early treatment with medications and supportive care, her condition worsened, leading to a diagnosis of severe acute liver injury with features pointing toward impending liver failure.
A team of doctors at Kims Sikhara, Guntur initiated centrifugal plasma exchange (cPLEX) — a specialized blood purification therapy — as a life-saving measure when liver transplant was not immediately feasible. 'After four sessions of cPLEX, the patients showed remarkable improvement.
Her liver parameters began normalizing, and she was discharged in a stable condition with follow-up planned,' said a senior surgical gastroenterologist Dr Ravella Vishnu Prasad at Kims Sikhara.
He explained that cPLEX is an advanced form of therapeutic plasma exchange that removes harmful toxins from the blood more efficiently than conventional methods. It plays a crucial role in clearing large inflammatory molecules that clog liver circulation.
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'Using a centrifugal machine (TERUMO Spectra Optia), the patient's plasma is separated and replaced with fresh plasma or substitutes. This helps restore liver function, reduce inflammation, and prevent complications,' said another senior gastroenterologist Dr Pratap Mouli. He said that studies from India, including Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore, Institue of liver and biliary sciences (ILBS), New Delhi, Asian Institute of Gastroenterology (AIG), Hyderabad have shown that cPLEX can improve survival in a subet of patients with liver failure.
In some high-risk patients, survival improved to nearly 50% with timely cPLEX.
'Compared to membrane-based PLEX (mPLEX), cPLEX achieves greater toxin clearance (up to 92.5%), reduces complications, and is better tolerated — making it the preferred strategy in critical liver care,' said Dr Pratap Mouli. He, however, said that the earlier cPLEX is initiated — ideally within 72 hours of damage and before Coma sets in — the better the outcomes.
Delay leads to increased mortality.
He said that this procedure is exclusively available at KIMS Sikhara for patients with acute liver failure, drug-induced injury, alcoholic hepatitis, or rat poisoning. In cases where transplant isn't possible, cPLEX offers a real hope to life.
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