Plasmapheresis

Since antiquity, mankind has hypothesized there are bad substances called “humors” which accumulate in the blood of sick patients and that the removal of these humors would make patients feel better - Trung C Nguyen MD

Plasmapheresis
Plasmapheresis

image by: Brie Kerschen

HWN Recommends

Plasmapheresis

Having your plasma sucked out of your body, replaced with a foreign fluid and reinfused back into you is clearly a rather invasive process not without its adverse effects. It is therefore engaged upon only in such circumstances where there is no option other than to remove some component of the blood.

There are two main characteristics for a disease process which make plasmapheresis a sensible decision:

  1. The disease has to be caused by some circulating factor, i.e. it has to be present in the blood
  2. That factor has to have a sufficiently long plasma half-life, such that "turning off" the process of its production will still result in significant…

read full article

Resources

 Plasmapheresis

The Greek word “ἀφαίρεσις” means “to take away” or “to separate", and crudely that is exactly what the plasmapheresis devices do. It is also a term in linguistics which describes the phonetic loss of a sound, for example the missing "k" in "knife". Plasmapheresis might refer to several possible procedures, depending on which blood components are separated.

American Society for Apheresis

The American Society for Apheresis (ASFA) is the premier organization of physicians, scientists, and allied health professionals whose mission is to advance apheresis medicine for patients, donors, and practitioners through education, evidence-based practice, research, and advocacy.

Life in the Fastlane

Plasmapheresis is a subset of apheresis whereby plasma is removed; this is termed ‘plasma exchange’ when host plasma discarded and replaced by donor plasma or an alternative colloid

Plasma exchange Simplified!

Plasma exchange was first used as far back as the 1880s, to treat bacterial and viral infections in animals and people. The first examples came from treating diphtheria produced from immunized animals, though human donors were quickly identified. The first time plasma exchange was used during a pandemic was during the Spanish influenza of 1918, with mixed results.

StatPearls

Plasmapheresis is a therapeutic intervention that involves extracorporeal removal, return, or exchange of blood plasma or components. The underlying mechanism of this procedure is accomplished by either centrifugation or filtration using semipermeable membranes.

Introducing Stitches!

Your Path to Meaningful Connections in the World of Health and Medicine
Connect, Collaborate, and Engage!

Coming Soon - Stitches, the innovative chat app from the creators of HWN. Join meaningful conversations on health and medical topics. Share text, images, and videos seamlessly. Connect directly within HWN's topic pages and articles.


Be the first to know when Stitches starts accepting users


Stay Connected