Abstract: Objective To study the clinical effect of plasma exchange on liver failure. Methods Retrospective analysis was made on the clinical data in 216 patients with liver failure.According to the way of therapy,the 216 patients were divided into PE treatment group and control group. The changes of clinical symptom,biochemistry index,adverse reactions and prognosis were observed. Results Serum ALT,AST,TBIL and Cr levels in PE group decreased（394.20±156.40u/L vs. 144.15±34.84u/L,374.54±151.34u/Lvs. 253.47±106.74u/L,399.01±146.18μmol/L vs. 359.70±110.69μmol/L,189.72±121.94μmol/L vs. 139.14±82.53μmol/L,respectively,P<0.01）,serum CHE and PTA increased（2964.37±1475.45u/L vs. 4480.97±1009.84u/L,40.01±17.99% vs.49.49±23.46%,P<0.01）,while they didn’t changed in control group（P>0.05）;The improvement rate of patients in treatment group was better than in control group（61.86% vs. 34.70%,x²=15.63,P<0.001）,but the mortality rate in the PE group was lower than in the control（5.93% vs. 8.16%,x²=14.37,<0.001）; the incidence of complications such as hepatic encephalopathy and hepatorenal syndrome in dead patients were higher than in the survivals（32.5% vs. 10.0%and 20.0% vs. 0.0%,P<0.05）. Conclution Therapeutic plasma exchange significantly increase the improvement rate of patients with liver failure.

Key words: Liver failure, Plasma exchange, Therapy