The effect of circulatory dysfunction upon the liver in haemodialysis patients
Publication Date
July 19, 2019
Creator
Abstract
Intermittent haemodialysis (HD) leads to recurrent circulatory stress which causes subclinical ischaemic injury and cumulative dysfunction in a variety of vulnerable organs. The effects of HD upon the liver have never been explored in detail. However, the liver is a haemodynamically active organ and plays a key role in the chronic inflammatory response modulation, as well as host defence against infection.
This project was designed to study the effects of both volume overload and circulatory stress, both characteristic of HD, upon liver haemodynamics in HD patients using serial imaging. The aims of the project were to evaluate the hepatic haemodynamic response to dialysis and explore the hepatic consequences of HD-induced circulatory stress. Three studies were conducted. The first examining the effect of dialysis upon liver stiffness, the second examining hepatic water content before and after dialysis, in comparison to overall fluid status and peripheral fluid shifts, and the third examining hepatic perfusion serially during dialysis.
Hepatic congestion does not appear to be prevalent in HD patients even in the presence of significant fluid overload. However, HD acutely affects hepatic perfusion and appears to lead to a degree of functional compromise. Perturbation of regional haemodynamics is associated with intra-dialytic haemodynamic stability and uraemic toxin clearance. There was considerable heterogeneity in the observed effects of dialysis, which appeared to relate to vulnerability to systemic circulatory stress.
The liver is affected by the circulatory stress of dialysis. Physiological mechanisms to preserve central circulating volume appear intact in HD patients. However, microcirculatory dysfunction and temporary functional compromise within the liver may impact upon the evolution of cardiac injury and toxin exposure in HD patients. Further work is needed to assess the full impact of hepatic disturbance in HD patients and its overall clinical significance.
Item Type
ethesis
Thesis Type
PhD
Supervisors
Keywords
Subjects (LC)
Associated Schools / Departments
School of Medicine
eprints ID
56854
UoN Repository URI
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