Cytapheresis as a Non-Pharmacological Therapy for Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

SUMMARY: Although inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD), is a chronic recurrent disease with unknown etiology. Recent immunological studies suggest close relation to autoimmune status featured by antibodies against colonic epithelial cells. For patients with IBD, 5-aminosalycilates are often used in case of mild disease, and corticosteroids are standard therapy for moderate-to-severe disease.

A case report: first case of filtration leukocytapheresis for a patient of aortitis syndrome associated with ulcerative colitis.

An 18-year-old woman was treated with leukocytapheresis (LCAP) for her combined ulcerative colitis (UC) and aortitis syndrome (AS). Because a close relationship between these two diseases has been suspected based on their etiological and/or pathological findings, we had hypothesized that LCAP, which has satisfactory effects on inflammatory bowel disease such as UC and Crohn's disease might be effective for both her UC and her AS. After informed consent, LCAP therapy was performed once a week for a total of 7 times.