Therapeutic Apheresis in Immunologic Renal and Neurological Diseases.

Since the mid 1970s, when membrane modules became available, plasma separation techniques have gained in importance especially in the past few years. The advantages of this method are a complete separation of the corpuscular components from the plasma and due to increased blood flow rate and higher efficacy. Systemic autoimmune diseases based on an immune pathogenesis produce autoantibodies and circulating immune complexes, which cause inflammation in the tissues of various organs.

Therapeutic Apheresis in Hematologic, Autoimmune and Dermatologic Diseases With Immunologic Origin.

The process of curing a patient by removing his illness by extracting blood is a very old one. Many years ago, phlebotomy was practiced to cure illness. Now, this old process, placed on a rational basis with therapeutic apheresis (TA), is being followed in clinical practice.

Therapeutic apheresis in autoimmune diseases.

Systemic autoimmune diseases based on an immune pathogenesis produce autoantibodies and circulating immune complexes, which cause inflammation in the tissues of various organs. In most cases, these diseases have a bad prognosis without treatment. Therapeutic apheresis in combination with immunosuppressive therapies has led to a steady increase in survival rates over the last 35 years.

LDL-apheresis: technical and clinical aspects.

The prognosis of patients suffering from severe hyperlipidemia, sometimes combined with elevated lipoprotein (a) levels, and coronary heart disease refractory to diet and lipid-lowering drugs is poor. For such patients, regular treatment with low-density lipoprotein (LDL) apheresis is the therapeutic option. Today, there are five different LDL-apheresis systems available: cascade filtration or lipid filtration, immunoadsorption, heparin-induced LDL precipitation, dextran sulfate LDL adsorption, and the LDL hemoperfusion.

Surface-Treated versus Untreated Large-Bore Catheters as Vascular Access in Hemodialysis and Apheresis Treatments.

Background. Catheter-related infections, thrombosis, and stenosis are among the most frequent complications associated with catheters, which are inserted in vessels. Surface treatment processes of the outer surface, such as ion-beam-assisted deposition, can be used to mitigate such complications.