Children's Hospitals Today - Fall 2021 - 32

VITALS / THRIVING
A life-saving machine
After a sudden illness, a new treatment saved a patient's liver
and helped him avoid a transplant.
BY GRANT HEIMAN
O
ne day, Diego Catalan was feeling sick and sent home
from school with what seemed like a case of food poisoning.
The next, his parents found him unresponsive. " After
36 hours of sleeping, we couldn't wake him up, so then it
started getting scary, " says Alice, Diego's mother.
An ambulance brought the family to the emergency room
at a local hospital where Diego's condition deteriorated.
He was agitated and restless. The emergency room doctors
identified the root of the cause: his liver. They quickly
transferred him to Children's Hospital at Montefiore
(CHAM), in Bronx, New York, where a team of a dozen
turn of events left the Catalan family devastated, but their
community rallied behind Diego to find a potential
liver
transplant donor. His sisters and friends immediately got
tested to see if they were a potential match for liver donation.
However, a new treatment was available at CHAM, and
Diego was a fit for the procedure. " They said it could help
clean out his blood enough to either keep him alive until
a donor liver became available, or help his own liver to
regenerate, " says Alice. " We of course said, 'Yes, please do
whatever you can.' "
The innovative therapy, Molecular Adsorbent
Recirculating System (MARS), acts like a dialysis machine
for the liver. It removes toxins from the blood that are
normally cleared by the liver-including the toxins that
standard dialysis machines are unable to remove. CHAM
was the first pediatric hospital in the Northeast to have this
technology, and Diego was the first patient to use it.
A multidisciplinary team of intensivists, nephrologists,
hepatologists and surgeons at CHAM worked together to
implement the technology and identified Diego as a potential
candidate. " We were not afraid of Diego being the first child
in New York City to get this treatment, " says Alice. " It was like
winning the lottery! The doctors explained how the machine
worked, the nurses were trained to use the new machine, and
they all monitored him closely throughout the process. "
During treatment, the machine pumped blood out of his
During his illness, there were several days Diego does not remember.
Today, he enjoys spending time with his family and watching football.
doctors and nurses immediately treated him for acute liver
failure. He'd also experienced a significant decline in brain
function after growing increasingly disoriented-unable
to even recognize his older sister. " He needed an emergency
transplant and was placed on a waiting list with the highest
urgency status due to his critical condition, " Alice says.
Diego had previously been treated for mild fatty liver
disease, but this sudden decline was unexpected. The quick
neck, circulating it through the machine and then back into
his body. The filter would have to be replaced occasionally, as
it darkened and filled with toxins. After just one treatment,
Diego was awake and having small conversations with his
family again. " I cried when he was able to just say a few
words that made sense, " says Alice.
In total, Diego had three treatments with MARS,
which allowed the team to keep him alive and let his liver
regenerate on its own. His case is rare, but Diego was taken
off the transplant waiting list less than two weeks after the
initial incident. He'll continue to be monitored by doctors at
CHAM for any ongoing issues.
Now Diego gets to go back to hanging out with his sisters
and playing saxophone. He even made it back to school
before the end of the school year.
Tell us an amazing patient story. Email magazine@childrenshospitals.org.
32
CHILDREN'S HOSPITALS TODAY Fall 2021
Children's Hospitals Today - Fall 2021

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