Successful Treatment of Severe Hyperammonaemia with Ultra-High Dose Continuous Veno-Venous Haemodiafiltration

Hyperammonaemia is a severe condition and often requires a multimodal treatment regimen. Dialysis has been described as a potential treatment option, but currently it is not the standard of care. In this report, we describe a case of a 40-year-old postpartum woman who developed severe hyperammonaemia due to liver failure and acute kidney injury (AKI) combined with a large intra-abdominal haematoma producing nitrogen waste products. She was treated successfully with continuous veno-venous haemodiafiltration using an ultra-high effluent rate (100 mL/kg/h) and was discharged alive 32 days after the initial admission. Our report indicates that successful ammonia clearance in the setting of AKI can be obtained only by using this high effluent rate. This treatment modality should be considered in all patients with AKI and severe hyperammonaemia when other treatment modalities fail to lower ammonia levels within hours to prevent irreversible but preventable neurological damage.

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