NKTI bags Healthcare Asia’s 2020 Service Innovation of the Year Award

QUEZON CITY, April 23 (PIA)–The National Kidney and Transplant Institute got the Service Innovation of the Year Award for 2020 given by Healthcare Asia.

NKTI’s entry, “Hemoperfusion: an innovative adsorption technology for multi-organ failure” was recognized by Healthcare Asia as an excellent initiative that have made a tremendous positive impact to patients and healthcare industry.

It was proven that NKTI’s initiative increased the survival of leptospirosis patients with kidney failure and lung hemorrhage.

Said initiative begun in 2018 and 2019, when the hospital witnessed an upsurge of severe leptospirosis patients with multi-organ failure.

Leptospirosis, a disease stemming from floods and a rat-infested environment, remains a challenge in urban areas. Patients admitted with the disease usually suffer from kidney failure, liver dysfunction, and lung hemorrhage.

Majority of the leptospirosis patients required dialysis for acute kidney injury.

Although kidney failure from leptospirosis is a reversible illness with kidney function recovering within one to two weeks, there are patients suffering from severe complications marked by sepsis and multi-organ failure that is exhibited by changes in sensorium, cardiovascular collapse, and bleeding diathesis.

NKTI examined the disastrous presentation of multi-organ failure and focused on its immune mechanism.

Leptospires cause the release of inflammatory mediators that result in leaky blood vessels.

The excessive host immune response ultimately leads to organ damage, which yields acute kidney injury, liver failure and pulmonary hemorrhage. The results require both dialysis and mechanical ventilation.

While traditional hemodialysis substitutes kidney function as the kidney heals, patients with cardiovascular collapse are unable to withstand the process in spite of blood pressure support.

To combat this, the hospital introduced Hemoperfusion, an extracorporeal blood purification modality that triumphantly takes away inflammatory mediators by adsorption to a sorbent material.

Removal of proinflammatory cytokines results in cardiovascular stability and cell responsiveness. Blood pressure is sustained, and dialysis can be effectively performed.

Lung injuries also improve. Because of this innovative treatment on a devastating disease causing multi-organ failure.

Hemoperfusion with the sepsis cartridge was performed on 20 leptospirosis patients experiencing kidney injury and lung failure, requiring dialysis and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) therapy.

Following hemoperfusion, all patients successfully underwent dialysis and no longer needed inotropic support. The patients had an 80 percent survival rate and were discharged with complete recovery of both renal and lung function.

Although pulmonary hemorrhage invariably results in 100% mortality, with ECMO and Hemoperfusion, only three patients died, proving that this combination leads to an impressive innovative treatment for leptospirosis with multi-organ failure.

Currently, the patients who were treated with Hemoperfusion and survived have returned to their normal productive lives and to their families.

In 2018, the Institute admitted 468 leptospirosis patients with 15 percent mortality rate while  in 2019, the mortality rate declined to 13 percent among 252 leptospirosis patients.

These favorable results prompted NKTI to implement Hemoperfusion as standard protocol for multi-organ support for patients with severe sepsis due to leptospirosis.

The life-saving therapy is now being studied in other diseases with multi-organ failure.

The groundbreaking technology will make a huge impact in saving patients with devastating diseases.

That is how NKTI, with its exceptional reputation for providing world class healthcare, particularly in the prevention and treatment of renal diseases and  well known in both the local and global scale, got 2020 Service Innovation of the Year Award.

Healthcare Asia Awards 2020 is a program that aims to honor hospitals and clinics that rise above challenges and recognize initiatives that made a remarkable and positive impact to their patients and the healthcare industry. (NKTI)

source https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1039771