Myongji Hospital said it has opened a Liver Intensive Care Unit (LICU) and started its full-scale operation.

The LICU, which consists of four sickbeds in separate rooms, has a monitor that can intensively control each patient and a bed for their intensive care, detecting changes in the patient's weight.

Patients with cirrhosis and liver failure show or expect complications such as varicose bleeding, hepatic encephalopathy, sedative delirium, acute renal dysfunction, and acute exacerbation, and those with suspected or developed complications after hepatocellular carcinoma treatment, can receive treatment at the LICU.

Since 2015, the hospital has focused on liver treatment, recruiting many specialists in liver cancer and other diseases, including Professor Lee Hyo-seok of the Department of Gastroenterology, one of the best doctors in the field. Based on rich experiences and excellent expertise, Lee now heads the hospital’s Liver Center. He has conducted 25 liver transplants, making Myongji the center of liver disease treatment in the northwestern Gyeonggi Province.

Myongji Hospital plans to open an advanced liver cancer center to solidify its status as a liver center with an integrated treatment system.

"Liver disease does not show any symptoms," Professor Lee said. "Therefore, it is important to manage progression and provide immediate treatment carefully."

The LICU will contribute to the rapid recovery of patients with acute liver disease, including liver failure, Lee added.

Myongji Hospital Chairman Lee Wang-jun also said, "LICU is one of the important steps in Myongji Hospital's grand goal of becoming one of Korea's top-three liver treatment hospitals."

Chairman Lee added that the hospital would continue its reputation as a liver treatment mecca by building an advanced liver cancer center.