title: World apheresis registry data from 2003 to 2007, the pediatric and adolescent side of the registry.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Paediatric patients are a special group in apheresis. It is general accepted to use adult indications in paediatric patients, but data in this age group are rare. In order to provide more information of apheresis practise in children and young adults (<21a) we will report of knowledge learnt by data from the registry from 2003 until 2007.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a web-based registry. A link is available from the WAA homepage (www.worldapheresis.org). So far data from 12,448 procedures have been included. Six hundred and twelve procedures were performed in 135 children and young adults (308 procedures<16a, 237 from 17 to 20a, and 67 with 21a) representing 5% of the total population. The median age was 14 years (range 1-21 years), 74 male and 61 female. These data were entered by 15 centres with a frequency of in median 18 aphereses in young patients per centre (range 1-287) from 2003 to 2007.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Main indications: haematological diseases and also nephrological, and neurological. The type of aphereses was mainly Leukapheresis (196, 33%), plasma exchange (149, 25%), photopheresis (127, 21%), and lipid aphereses (79, 13%). Blood access: peripheral vessels in 305 procedures (50%, compared to 73% in adults), central venous catheter in 239 (38%), and AV-fistula in 2% and 0.3%, and in 8 (1.31%) procedures an arterial line was used. Anticoagulation was mostly by ACD (71%), heparin (18% or the combination of both (3%). 39 adverse events (AE) were registered in 22 (=3.59%) of the procedures, mostly graded as mild. Treatment was interrupted in 14 procedures (2.29%). AE's were abdominal pain, anaphylactic shock, flush, hyper- and hypotension, nausea, vertigo, cephalea and need for sedation and technical problems with the device and problems with the venous access. The rate of AE's was similar for stem cell harvesting and for plasma exchange (4% and 4.7%, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The paediatric data compared to the whole registry data set are showing that aphereses are performed as safe in paediatrics as in adults. Centres are mostly handling only a few cases younger than 21. Therefore more exchange of information and experience in paediatric apheresis is warranted.
authors.affiliation: St. Anna Kinderspital, Vienna, Austria. volker.witt@stanna.at
authors.forename: Volker
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Witt
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Stegmayr
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ptak
authors.forename: Björn
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wikström
authors.forename: Gösta
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Berlin
authors.forename: C G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Axelsson
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Griskevicius
authors.forename: Paolo Emilio
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Centoni
authors.forename: Giancarlo Maria
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Liumbruno
authors.forename: Pietra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Molfettini
authors.forename: Judita
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Audzijoniene
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mokvist
authors.forename: B Nilsson
authors.initials: BN
authors.lastname: Sojka
authors.forename: Rut
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Norda
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ramlow
authors.forename: Milan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Blaha
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Evergren
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tomaz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001781:Blood Component Removal; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D006402:Hematologic Diseases / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D012042:Registries