Figure 2

The changes of the serum bilirubin and ammonia levels during first ten days after the start of artificial liver support. The solid line and dashed line shows the values of the patients who survived hepatic failure without transplantation (Case 1, 7, 8, 11-13, 16) and the patients who died of liver failure (Case 2, 3, 10, 14), respectively. The serum bilirubin levels increased gradually in almost patients of both groups (A). The serum ammonia levels of the patients who survived hepatic failure without transplantation decreased to less than 100 μg/dL on the 7th day after the start of the treatment with a constant tendency (B).