title: Therapeutic aphaeresis: experience in Puerto Rico.
abstract: The Puerto Rico (PR) Region of the American Red Cross (ARC) evaluated the therapeutic aphaeresis program and we conducted 1609 procedures in 30 months between 2011 and 2013. The primary objective of the present review was to demonstrate our data and compare it to the reviewed medical evidence regarding the adequacy of applying therapeutic aphaeresis (TA) for chosen indications based on data in the literature. It was concluded that our service is very active and appropriate, and the number of TA's done varies and it's not steady year-by-year. The indications are the same as most common indicators across the World and the adverse reactions are too. We are the only ones doing apheresis in the pediatric population of PR. No deaths have been reported from our procedures. We understand that clinicians do not have enough knowledge about TA and tend to apply TA's in many cases as a last resort treatment for many diseases. Education at medical faculties and of hospital staff (nurses and medical technologists) about TA is very important. There is a need for symposia about this topic to the medical and general community.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Services, American Red Cross, Puerto Rico Region, United States. Electronic address: Raul.Morales@redcross.org.
authors.forename: Raúl H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Morales Borges
authors.affiliation: Clinical Services, American Red Cross, Puerto Rico Region, United States.
authors.forename: Gladys Colón
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Nieves
authors.affiliation: Clinical Services, American Red Cross, Puerto Rico Region, United States.
authors.forename: María Rodríguez
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Martínez
authors.affiliation: Clinical Services, American Red Cross, Puerto Rico Region, United States.
authors.forename: Rosa Vargas
authors.initials: RV
authors.lastname: Ramos
authors.affiliation: Clinical Services, American Red Cross, Puerto Rico Region, United States.
authors.forename: Linda I
authors.initials: LI
authors.lastname: Pedraza Otero
authors.affiliation: Clinical Services, American Red Cross, Puerto Rico Region, United States.
authors.forename: Carmen Nieves
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Vargas
authors.affiliation: Clinical Services, American Red Cross, Puerto Rico Region, United States.
authors.forename: Glorimar Ortiz
authors.initials: GO
authors.lastname: Pedraza
authors.affiliation: Clinical Services, American Red Cross, Puerto Rico Region, United States.
authors.forename: Jairo J Morales
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Jiménez
mesh_terms: D001781:Blood Component Removal; D003695:Delivery of Health Care; D004502:Education, Medical, Continuing; D039781:PubMed; D011647:Puerto Rico; D012011:Red Cross; D012189:Retrospective Studies
keywords: Aphaeresis; Puerto Rico; Therapeutic