Clinical trial NCT03441035: Albumin Mass Balance in Liver Transplantation
Official title: Albumin Mass Balance in Liver Transplantation, an Open Prospective Cohort Study
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: UNKNOWN
Conditions: Liver Transplant; Complications
Fluid Overload
Lead sponsor: Karolinska Institutet
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2018-02-22
Enrollment: 200
Sex: ALL
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Observational model: COHORT
Time perspective: PROSPECTIVE
Sampling method: NON_PROBABILITY_SAMPLE
Study population: All patients undergoing liver transplantation at our unit (approximately 85 patients per year) will be asked to participate.

Brief summary: This clinical observational cohort study assess the loss of albumin from blood circulation during and after liver transplantation by mass balance of albumin. The overall assumption of this method is that if albumin is more diluted than hemoglobin, it must have left the plasma, presumably into the interstitial space. Predictors of albumin leakage will be assessed, including biomarkers of inflammation and of endothelial damage and dysfunction. The sub cohorts children and patients with complications, defined as prolonged postoperative treatment in the intensive care unit, respectively, will be focused in separate publications.

Detailed description: Background Capillary leakage has been recognized to be associated with surgery and inflammation \[Fleck 1985\]. In liver transplantation considerable amounts of exogenous albumin is administered to support circulatory stability and a post operative plasma albumin concentration of 25 g/L to facilitate interpretation of immuno suppressive drug concentrations. However, the long term effects of exogenous albumin is not well characterized in the literature, and extravasation might promote edema formation and impair wound healing. In previous studies we have demonstrated the ability of the albumin mass balance method to identify leakage of albumin in major abdominal surgery \[Norberg 2016\].

In a pilot study in patients undergoing liver transplantation (n=11) we found a net leakage of albumin from plasma of 37 ± 17 g at end of surgery and 48 ± 33 g at postoperative day 3.

The primary aim of the new study is to find if this net leakage is still there at postoperative day 7. We are also looking into predictors of positive albumin shift from plasma including markers of inflammation and endothelial injury or dysfunction. Focus will also be put on the subgroup of children during and after liver transplantation. Finally a subgroup of patients in need of prolonged ICU stay after liver transplantation will be investigated to see the prolonged effects of our present routines, and these patients ability to synthetize albumin.

All patients undergoing liver transplantation at Karolinska University Hospital are eligible.

Recruitment will be made in advance as soon as patients are put on the transplant waiting list. In adults, at the day of surgery, blood samples will be taken repeatedly for estimation of plasma albumin. In all patients we will keep track of any gains or losses of albumin or hemoglobin in suction bottles, drains, exogenous blood products, exogenous albumin etc. This sampling will proceed during the study period that will end at hospital discharge or not later than post-operative day 21. Adult patients that are still in the ICU on postoperative day 3 will be subjected to a measurement of albumin synthesis rate by the flooding method \[Ballmer 1993\]. All subjects, even children, will have blood sampled for ELISAs of markers of inflammation and endothelial injury or dysfunction.

Total study specific blood sampling will be limited to 100 mL in adults and 6 mL in children.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

All patients undergoing liver transplantation are eligible

Exclusion Criteria:

No consent Unability to understand the study information (language or consciousness)

Primary outcomes:
measure: Cumulative perioperative shift of albumin
timeFrame: Post-operative day 7 after liver transplantation
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Predictors of cumulative perioperative shift of albumin
timeFrame: from pre-operative risk assessment until post-operative day 7
measure: Predictors of prolonged need for ICU stay
timeFrame: from pre-operative risk assessment until post-operative day 21
measure: Albumin synthesis rate
timeFrame: postoperative days 3-21 after liver transplantation
measure: Cumulative perioperative shift of albumin in children
timeFrame: during and after liver transplantation until postoperative day 21
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Huddinge
country: Sweden
facility: Karolinska University Hospital, Huddinge
Study officials:
affiliation: Perioperative Medicine and Intensive Care, Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge
name: Åke Norberg, Ass Prof
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Fleck A, Raines G, Hawker F, Trotter J, Wallace PI, Ledingham IM, Calman KC. Increased vascular permeability: a major cause of hypoalbuminaemia in disease and injury. Lancet. 1985 Apr 6;1(8432):781-4. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(85)91447-3.
citation: Norberg A, Rooyackers O, Segersvard R, Wernerman J. Leakage of albumin in major abdominal surgery. Crit Care. 2016 Apr 26;20(1):113. doi: 10.1186/s13054-016-1283-8.
citation: Ballmer PE, McNurlan MA, Milne E, Heys SD, Buchan V, Calder AG, Garlick PJ. Measurement of albumin synthesis in humans: a new approach employing stable isotopes. Am J Physiol. 1990 Dec;259(6 Pt 1):E797-803. doi: 10.1152/ajpendo.1990.259.6.E797.