Background A liver support therapy,named molecular adsorbents recirculating system (MARS),has been used for more than 700 liver failure patients in China.We made here a summary to evaluate the effects of MARS treatment in different applications with emphasis on hepatitis B virus (HBV) based liver failure.Methods This report analyzed data of 252 patients (mean age (44.9±12.7) years) in three groups:acute severe hepatitis (ASH),subacute severe hepatitis (SSH) and chronic severe hepatitis (CSH).The largest group was CSH (156 patients,61.9%),and 188 patients (74.6%,188/252) were infected with HBV.Results MARS treatments were associated with significant reduction of albumin bound toxins and water-soluble toxins.Most of the patients showed a positive response with a significant improvement of multiple organ function substantiated by a significant increase in prothrombin time activity (PTA) and median arterial pressure (MAP).There was a decrease in hepatic encephalopathy (HE) grade and Child-Turcotte-Pugh (CTP) scale.Thirty-nine of 188 HBV patients (20.7%) dropped out of the commendatory consecutive therapy ending with lower survival of 43.6% while the rest of the 149 patients had a survival rate of 62.4%.Survival within the ASH and SSH groups were 81.2% and 75.0%,respectively.In the CSH group,end stage patients were predominant (65/151,43%),whereas the early and middle stage patients had a better prognosis:early stage survival,including orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) survival of 91.7%,middle stage survival of 75%,end stage survival of 33.8%.Conclusions MARS continues to be the most favorable extracorporeal treatment for liver support therapy in China for a wide range of conditions,including the majority of hepatitis B related liver failure conditions.The appropriate application of MARS for the right indications and stage of hepatic failure,as well as the fulfillment of prescribed treatments,will lead to the optimal therapeutic result.