title: Role of therapeutic plasmapheresis in ANCA-associated vasculitis.
abstract: Plasma exchange, or plasmapheresis, is a treatment method that developed over a period of two decades and involves the removal and replacement of a patient's circulating plasma. The aim of treatment is to remove disease-associated molecules and therefore interrupt disease progression. This article summarizes the developmental history of this treatment and then looks in more detail at data on the use of plasma exchange in treating antineutrophil antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis. The eight randomized trials and the Cochrane Systematic Review on treating renal vasculitis are summarized to show that plasma exchange may be effective in this disease, specifically in reducing the development of end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) by approximately 40%. The plasma exchange and glucocorticoid dosing in the treatment of anti-neutrophil cytoplasm antibody associated vasculitis (PEXIVAS) study is a currently enrolling study aiming to answer some of the outstanding questions relating to the use of this treatment in ANCA-associated vasculitis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Renal Medicine, Canberra Hospital, Garran, ACT, Australia. giles.walters@anu.edu.au.|Australian National University Medical School, Canberra, ACT, Australia. giles.walters@anu.edu.au.
authors.forename: Giles
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Walters
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D056648:Anti-Neutrophil Cytoplasmic Antibody-Associated Vasculitis / Q000266:history / Q000628:therapy*; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000517:prevention & control; D010956:Plasmapheresis / Q000266:history / Q000379:methods*
keywords: ANCA; Glomerulonephritis; Plasma exchange; Plasmapheresis; Pulmonary haemorrhage; Vasculitis