Preoperative therapeutic plasma exchange in patients with thyrotoxicosis

The purpose of this report was to determine the effectiveness of therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) in preoperative preparation of patients with thyrotoxicosis scheduled for either thyroid or nonthyroid surgery. We retrospectively reviewed 11 patients with thyrotoxicosis and those who prepared surgery with plasmapheresis between 1999 and 2008 at our institution. Ten patients underwent thyroid surgery and one patient was operated for femur fracture during antithyroid drug treatment. The indications for plasmapheresis in all patients with severe thyrotoxicosis were poor response to medical treatment (seven patients), agronulocytosis due to antithyroid drugs (three patients), iodine‐induced thyrotoxicosis (Jodd Basedow effect in one patient), and rapid preparation for urgent orthopedic operation (one patient). After TPE, we observed a marked decrease in free thyroxin (FT3) and free triiodothyronin (FT4) levels; however, the decline in the biochemical values were not statically significant (P > 0.62, P > 0.15). Although both FT3 and FT4 levels remained above the normal limits in two of 11 patients, the signs and symptoms of thyrotoxicosis improved in all patients and no thyroid storm observed during the perioperative period. TPE can be considered a safe and effective alternative to prepare patients with thyrotoxicosis for surgery when drug treatment fails or is contraindicated and when emergency surgery is required. J. Clin. Apheresis, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Immune globulin intravenous replacement after plasma exchange

The infusion of high-dose (275 mg/kg body weight) immune globulin intravenous (IGIV) after 466 plasma exchanges in 64 patients with autoimmune disease was studied. Side effects occurred during 15% of IGIV infusions. For the most part they were transient and mild, and could be controlled by slowing the infusion rate. Two percent of infusions had to be terminated because of more persistent or severe side effects. Chills were the most common side effect, followed by nausea, flushing, anxiety, and nausea. Serum IgG levels were immediately restored into the normal range by IGIV infusions, and they were much more effective in restoring IgG levels after plasma exchange than intramuscular injection of 9.9 g of immune serum globulin (ISG). Up to 15 weekly high-dose IGIV infusions were well tolerated without unusual side effects. These patients did not have any major bacterial infections, but were not protected from developing Herpes zoster at the dosages used. In patients with myasthenia gravis, a short term impact of a single IGIV infusion on titers of antibody to acetylcholine receptor could not be demonstrated. This study showed IGIV to be a safe and effective preparation for the replacement of normal IgG removed during plasma exchange.     

A multicenter retrospective analysis on therapeutic plasma exchange in immune thrombocytopenic purpura

Immune Thrombocytopenia (ITP) is an autoimmune disease characterized by thrombocytopenia and skin and mucosal bleeding. In patients with an indication for treatment, corticosteroids, intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) and anti-D are recommended as the first line, while splenectomy, thrombopoietin receptor agonists or rituximab are recommended second line options. Approximately 10 % of adult patients with ITP fall into the chronic refractory ITP group. Therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) has generally been tested in patients with refractory ITP, who have failed to respond to conventional treatments, in case of bleeding or prior to surgical interventions. It has been stated that elimination of the antibodies that are held responsible in the pathogenesis of the disease has an effective role in the treatment. In this article, we present the results of 17 patients, who underwent TPE for refractory ITP, together with the literature data.     

Partial plasma protein replacement in therapeutic plasma exchange

We wished to determine whether subtotal replacement of protein in plasma removed at plasma exchange would be adequate to prevent hypovolemia and hypoproteinemia. Seven well nourished outpatients with chronic progressive multiple sclerosis underwent 60 plasma exchanges in which two liters of plasma were replaced with 750 ml saline followed by 1250 ml of a 5% albumin solution (62.5% albumin replacement). Total serum protein, protein electrophoresis, and immunoglobulin levels were measured before and after each exchange. Clinically, the exchanges were well tolerated. Total serum protein dropped by a mean of only 18% during the study and mean preexchange serum albumin levels were unchanged, even though immunoglobulins decreased by 57–72%. We conclude that in well nourished patients, partial albumin replacement of this magnitude is an adequate substitute for plasma removed in a plasma exchange.     

The results of therapeutic plasma exchange in patients with severe hyperthyroidism: A retrospective multicenter study

Hyperthyroidism characterized by elevated serum levels of circulating thyroid hormones. The aim of hyperthyroidism treatment is to achieve a euthyroid state as soon as possible and to maintain euthyroid status. However, drug withdrawal and utilization of alternative therapies are needed in cases in which leucopenia or impairment in liver functions is observed during medical therapy. In the present study, we aimed to present our cases which underwent therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) due to severe hyperthyroidism. The results of 22 patients who underwent therapeutic plasma exchange due to hyperthyroidism in Apheresis Units of Erciyes University and Gaziantep University, between 2006 and 2012, were retrospectively reviewed. These cases had severe thyrotoxic values despite anti-thyroid drug use. After TPE, we observed a significant decrease in free thyroxin (FT4) (p < 0.001) and free triiodotyhronin (FT3) (p < 0.004) levels. There was statistically significant increase in the mean values of TSH levels after TPE (p < 0.001).Clinical improvement was achieved in hyperthyroidism by TPE in 20 cases (91%). Both FT3 and FT4 levels remained above the normal limits in two of 22 patients. TPE should be considered as an effective and safe therapeutic option to achieve euthyroid state before surgery or radioactive iodine treatment. TPE is a useful option in cases with severe hyperthyroidism unresponsive to anti-thyroid agents and in those with clinical manifestations of cardiac failure and in patients with severe adverse events during anti-thyroid therapy.     

血浆置换治疗32例肝衰竭患者的临床效果

目的探讨血浆置换治疗肝衰竭患者的临床效果。方法收集32例肝衰竭患者,在综合治疗的基础上,采用血浆置换技术对其进行治疗。分别于治疗前、后检测患者临床生化指标:天门冬氨酸氨基转移酶(AST)、丙氨酸氨基转移酶(ALT)、清蛋白(ALB)、总胆红素(TBil)、直接胆红素(DBil)、凝血酶原时间(PT)、肌酐(Cr)、国际标准化比率(INR)、总胆汁酸(TBA)。结果本组患者血浆置换治疗总有效率为78.13%。早期肝衰竭患者有效率94.73%,中期肝衰竭患者有效率70.00%,晚期肝衰竭患者全部无效死亡。生化指标AST、ALT、ALB、TBil、DBil、PT、Cr、INR、TBA治疗后较治疗前均有明显改善(P<0.05)。结论血浆置换治疗肝衰竭患者效果较好,越早治疗效果越好。     

血浆置换治疗对重型病毒性肝炎血清内毒素和炎性介质的影响

目的：应用血浆置换技术，探讨其对重型病毒性肝炎患者体内内毒素和炎性因子水平的影响。方法：50例例重型病毒性肝炎患者和血浆置换治疗，于血浆置换治疗前，治疗结束时，治疗后24小时，48小时分别抽血测血清内毒素（ET）、TNFα及IL－6的水平。结果：重型生地炎患者血清内毒素、TNFα、IL－6的水平明显升高，血浆置换治疗结束时血清内毒素、TNFα、IL－6的水平明显低于治疗前水平（P＜0．05）。治疗后48小时内毒素、TNFα、IL－6的水平有所上升，但存活组较治疗前明显下降（P＜0．05），而死亡组与治疗前无明显变化（P＞0．05）。结论：血浆置换治疗能有效清除重型病毒性肝炎血清内毒素和炎性介质，治疗后血清内毒性和炎性介质的水平动态变化可能是判断血浆置换治疗重型病毒性肝炎预后的一个指标。     

Therapeutic plasma exchange a potential strategy for patients with advanced heart failure

Background: Previous reports had emphasized the importance of humoral immunity in heart failure in humans, primarily determined by the presence of circulating antibodies. However, there is little or no information about the frequency of anticardiac antibodies present in failing human myocardium. Methods: Clinical data and myocardial tissue samples were analyzed to determine the role of humoral immunity in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) in different settings. Results: Anticardiac antibodies were found present in failing hearts but not in normal control hearts. Further, the level of expression of these anticardiac antibodies changed with the severity of the disease state; and in patients with acute heart failure, we found selective activation of B cells. Finally, treatment of CHF patients with therapeutic plasma exchange, a strategy that removes circulating antibodies, resulted in a reduction in anticardiac antibody deposition and improvements in cardiac function. Conclusion: These data collectively suggest a role of humoral immunity in the progression of heart failure. J. Clin. Apheresis, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Therapeutic plasma exchange in patients with thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura: A retrospective multicenter study

Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) is a particular form of thrombotic microangiopathy typically characterized by thrombocytopenia, microangiopathic hemolytic anemia, fever, neurological abnormalities, and renal dysfunction. TTP requires a rapid diagnosis and an adapted management in emergency. Daily sessions of therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) remain the basis of management of TTP. Also, TTP is a rare disease that is fatal if it is not treated. TPE has resulted in excellent remission and survival rates in TTP patients.AimWe aimed to present our experience in 163 patients with TTP treated with TPE during the past 5 years from 10 centers of Turkey.Patients and methodsOne hundered and sixty-three patients with TTP treated with TPE during the past 5 years from 10 centers of Turkey were retrospectively evaluated. TPE was carried out 1–1.5 times plasma volume. Fresh frozen plasma (FFP) was used as the replacement fluid. TPE was performed daily until normalization of serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and recovery of the platelet count to >150 × 10⁹/dL. TPE was then slowly tapered. Clinical data, the number of TPE, other given therapy modalities, treatment outcomes, and TPE complications were recorded.ResultsFifty-eight percent (95/163) of the patients were females. The median age of the patients was 42 years (range; 16–82). The median age of male patients was significantly higher than female (53 vs. 34 years; p < 0.001). All patients had thrombocytopenia and microangiopathic hemolytic anemia. At the same time, 82.8% (135/163) of patients had neurological abnormalities, 78.5% (128/163) of patients had renal dysfunction, and 89% (145/163) of patients had fever. Also, 10.4% (17/163) of patients had three of the five criteria, 10.4% (17/163) of patients had four of the five criteria, and 6.1% (10/163) of patients had all of the five criteria. Primary TTP comprised of 85.9% (140/163) of the patients and secondary TTP comprised of 14.1% (23/163) of the patients. Malignancy was the most common cause in secondary TTP. The median number of TPE was 13 (range; 1–80). The number of TPE was significantly higher in complete response (CR) patients (median 15.0 vs. 3.5; p < 0.001). CR was achieved in 85.3% (139/163) of the patients. Similar results were achieved with TPE in both primary and secondary TTP (85% vs. 87%, respectively; p = 0.806). There was no advantage of TPE + prednisolone compared to TPE alone in terms of CR rates (82.1% vs. 76.7%; p = 0.746). CR was not achieved in 14.7% (24/163) of the patients and these patients died of TTP related causes. There were no statistical differences in terms of mortality rate between patients with secondary and primary TTP [15% (21/140) vs. 13% (3/23); p = 0.806]. But, we obtained significant statistical differences in terms of mortality rate between patients on TPE alone and TPE + prednisolone [14% (12/86) vs. 3% (2/67), p < 0.001].ConclusionsTPE is an effective treatment for TTP and is associated with high CR rate in both primary and secondary TTP. Thrombocytopenia together with microangiopathic hemolytic anemia is mandatory for the diagnosis of TTP and if these two criteria met in a patient, TPE should be performed immediately.     

Zidovudine removal during plasma exchange.

Pharmacokinetics of zidovudine (azidothymidine, AZT) were investigated after oral administration (300 mg every 8 hours) in a human immunodeficiency virus seropositive patient who was also treated with plasma exchange (60 ml/kg). Plasma AZT concentrations were measured using high performance liquid chromatography assay. Plasma exchange clearances reached 1-3.8% of the total clearance. The fraction of AZT removed from separated plasma accounted for only 1% of the administered dose. The contribution of plasma exchange to the elimination of AZT appears to be negligible. Solely on the basis of AZT pharmacokinetic data, no particular dose adjustment appears to be necessary in patients treated with multiple plasma exchanges.     

Clinical evaluation of a flat-plate membrane plasma exchange system

A new flat-plate membrane plasma separation system specifically designed for therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) was clinically evaluated in both research and routine clinical settings. The study included a comparison to a currently available centrifugal cell separation system employed for TPE. A total of 267 membrane procedures were performed on 39 patients over a 14-month period. Both qualitative and quantitative studies showed that membrane plasma exchange procedures were equivalent to centrifugal procedures in the removal of plasma constituents from patients. A notable difference between the two types of procedure was the effect on the peripheral blood platelet count: the plasma filtrate from the membrane system was essentially cell-free and platelet counts fell only 11% during the procedure, compared to a 53% decrease during the centrifugation runs. Patient responses to both types of procedure were similar and the frequency of side-effects was low. A sampling of patient opinion revealed a preference for the membrane system for a variety of reasons. Procedure times were shorter with the membrane system because of higher achievable blood flow rates, and thus higher plasma exchange rates, while the overall nursing time requirement was lower. The results show that this flat-plate membrane TPE system enables rapid and effective plasma exchange therapy, and offered a number of monitoring and control functions that provided a safer, more efficient therapeutic procedure in the majority of patient treatments performed in this study.     

Plasma exchange in six patients with advanced cancers of the head and neck

Six patients with advanced squamous cell cancers of the head and neck, with serum IgA greater than or equal to 400 mg/dl and IgE less than or equal to 1000 IU/ml, underwent a trial of six 2-liter plasma exchanges over a 2-3-week period. Disease progressed in patients 1, 2, and 4, who died on days 44, 72, and 159. The tumor in patients 3 and 6 regressed significantly, repeatedly in patient 3 over each of four courses of apheresis. Tumor recurred in both patients after cessation of treatment, and they died at days 420 and 79. Patient 5, with inoperable disease, received full-dose radiotherapy immediately following the course of apheresis, and showed complete response in the primary lesion and a major response in the extensive lymph node metastases, dying on day 421 of apparently unrelated causes. Serum IgE in the three patients experiencing tumor regression rose paradoxically during plasmapheresis. Only patient 3 had an elevated level of soluble E-receptor suppressor factor prepheresis; the serum of patient 6 was lymphocytotoxic prepheresis but this activity decreased or disappeared during each of the exchanges studied. Controlled trials are now indicated.     

Therapeutic plasma exchange in Casablanca

BACKGROUND: Therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) is an extracorporeal blood purification method for the treatment of diseases in which pathological proteins have to be eliminated. In the aim to demonstrate our single center activity, we analyzed our data since 2 years. METHODS: Between years 2002 and 2005, 104 TPE procedures were performed on 42 patients. Median age and male/female ratio were 32 (range, 17-56) and 24/18, respectively. Departments those referred the majority of the TPE were neurology (n=32), nephrology (n=5) and intensive care unit (n=5). The most common indications were: polyradiculoneuropathies (53%), myasthenia gravis (17%) and Guillain-Barré syndrome (12%). RESULTS: The median TPE procedure per patient was 2.3 (range, 1-10). In the majority of patients, vascular access was provided by puncture of two large, durable peripheral antecubital veins. The procedures were performed with the "Haemonetic Ultralight" discontinuous flow cell separator devices. Citrate solution was used as an anticoagulant in all cases. The substitution fluids most often used in our unit are Albumin 20% solution (92 times), Albumin 4% (10 times) and fresh frozen plasma (twice). Seventy five percent of the patients showed improvement, 7% remained the same and 18% worsened. Thirteen adverse reactions were recorded. CONCLUSION: The creation of a national registry by the local society is a vital move to improve TPE practice in our country.     

大黄联合床边血浆置换治疗重症高脂血症性急性胰腺炎疗效观察

目的：评估重症高脂血症性急性胰腺炎应用大黄联合床边血浆置换治疗的临床疗效。方法：47例确诊为重症高脂血症性急性胰腺炎患者分为大黄联合床边血浆置换治疗组（24例）和对照组（23例）,观察血浆置换的安全性,两组患者的甘油三酯（TG）、炎症因子、呼吸功能、肠道功能、BalthazarCT评分、急性生理和慢性健康状况评分Ⅱ（APACHEⅡ）、住院时间、住院费用和病死率等。结果：24例床边血浆置换有4例发生轻微并发症,无严重并发症;治疗组治疗第2天和第8天TG和炎症因子与对照组比较明显降低（均P〈0.05）;治疗组机械通气人数和时间少于对照组,治疗组治疗第2天和第8天氧合指数和胸腔积液与对照组比较差异有统计学意义（均P〈0.05）;治疗组治疗第2天和第8天腹内压均低于对照组,肛门首次排便时间和肠内营养开始时间均早于对照组（均P〈0.05）;治疗组治疗第2天APACHEⅡ评分、第8天APACHEⅡ评分和BalthazarCT评分与对照组比较差异有统计学意义（均P〈0.05）;治疗组住院时间、住院费用和病死率均低于对照组（均P〈0.05）。结论：床边血浆置换有良好的安全性;大黄联合床边血浆置换对重症高脂血症性急性胰腺炎有良好的临床疗效。