Our research focuses on the how pre-, intra-, and post-operative management by anesthesiologists can lead to the best outcomes in patients undergoing liver transplantation. One important part of the preoperative management in these patients is cardiac risk stratification. We have previously investigated methods for improving the sensitivity of dobutamine stress echocardiography in patients with end stage liver disease. Additionally, we have collaborated with our transplant surgery and cardiology colleagues to develop protocols for preoperative cardiac testing based on patients’ cardiac risk factors. We have also studied which patient and liver allograft characteristics put patients at increased risk of developing intracardiac thrombus, a catastrophic cardiac complication, while undergoing liver transplantation.
Our current research focuses on understanding the effects of ascorbic acid or vitamin C on biochemical and cellular damage in liver transplant recipients via a prospective, randomized-controlled trial titled Parenteral Ascorbic Acid Repletion in TransplantatIon (PARTI). In this trial, patients will receive either ascorbic acid or placebo and be followed to determine if ascorbic acid will decrease Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) scores, vasopressor usage and biochemical, cellular and clinical evidence of end-organ damage. Patient enrollment is set to begin in the summer of 2021.
