Apheresis: clinical response to patients unresponsive to conventional therapy.
Ten of 13 (76.9%) rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients having intensive cryofiltration treatment showed improvement and 5 of 7 (71.4%) of RA patients treated on maintenance cryofiltration therapy showed improvement. Encouraged by these results, 2 centers were established for controlled trial studies of RA patients. Four of 4 (100%) rheumatoid vasculitis patients treated by cryofiltration and 4 of 7 (57.1%) patients treated with plasma exchange showed clinical improvement. An SLE patient with thrombocytopenia showed a dramatic rise in platelet count during intensive (3 day/wk) plasma exchange treatments despite little prior response to drugs, platelet infusions and splenectomy. Plasmapheresis was effective in improving clinical symptoms and lipid abnormalities in a primary sclerosing cholangitis patient without causing hypoproteinemia during the long-term therapy (4 yrs).
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000628:therapy; D001663:Bilirubin / Q000097:blood; D002761:Cholangitis / Q000097:blood / Q000628:therapy; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010951:Plasma Exchange; D010956:Plasmapheresis / Q000379:methods*; D010976:Platelet Count; D013921:Thrombocytopenia / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications; D014462:Ultrafiltration; D014657:Vasculitis / Q000628:therapy
D002784:Cholesterol; D001663:Bilirubin