First Successful Treatment of Dengue Fever and Dengue Shock Syndrome Using CytoSorb®
MONMOUTH JUNCTION, N.J., Nov. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- CytoSorbents Corporation (CTSO), highlights the first successful treatment of Dengue Shock Syndrome caused by Dengue virus infection using CytoSorb® as reported in a recent issue of the Journal of Evidence Based Medicine Healthcare.
Dengue virus infection is one of the most prevalent mosquito-borne illnesses in the world, endemic in 112 countries, putting an estimated 40% of the world's population at risk. An estimated 100 million people each year contract dengue infection, causing high fever and severe flu-like symptoms that are typically self-limited. However, in approximately a half million people, symptoms progress rapidly to life-threatening Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF) and Dengue Shock Syndrome (DSS), where patients develop severe shock with very low blood pressure, liver injury and other vital organ dysfunction, tissue edema, and significant problems with blood clotting contributing to a high risk of bleeding. Other than supportive care therapy, there are no specific treatments for either DHF or DSS. The excessive production of cytokines, or cytokine storm, has often been implicated as a major contributor to severity of illness and risk of death in dengue infection. It has been suggested that the reduction of elevated levels of soluble inflammatory mediators such as cytokines and activated complement could be therapeutic.
Dr. Zafir A. Khan, Director of the Department of Internal Medicine at Noble Hospital in Pune, India, recently published the first CytoSorb treatment case report of a 32 year old man infected with dengue virus who was transferred to his intensive care unit (ICU) from an outside hospital after developing progressively worsening multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS), including septic shock, kidney and liver dysfunction, and respiratory distress. Following transfer, the patient continued to worsen, with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) requiring mechanical ventilation, a systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), adverse change in mental status due to liver toxins, and acute kidney failure with an APACHE II score of 27, predicting an ICU mortality of approximately 55%.
At this point, CytoSorb blood purification therapy was initiated, in addition to renal replacement therapy for kidney failure. The patient was treated with CytoSorb for 6 hours per day on Days 2, 4, and 6 after ICU admission, and was stabilized, showing gradual and significant improvement in clinical and laboratory parameters by the third treatment. With continued supportive care, the patient ultimately regained function of his vital organs, was discharged from the ICU on Day 13, and recovered.
Dr. Khan concluded in the report, "In our case, [the] CytoSorb device was added as a supportive therapy to address underlying pathology due to cytokine storm. The device helped to stabilize and revive the dengue patient with multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) and shock. [The] majority of laboratory parameters were within the normal range after the therapy and no major adverse events were reported during or after the CytoSorb therapy. CytoSorb seems to be an interesting and safe extracorporeal therapy option to stabilize and help dengue patients with MODS to recover. Further research is warranted in a larger pool of patients to understand the clinical role of this device in the management of dengue fever."
