We report a case of 52-year-old female with steroid-unresponsive Hashimoto's encephalopathy. She underwent plasma exchange that resulted in marked clinical improvement.

All patients received the first plasma exchange employing fresh frozen plasma, and CPP was used in the following procedures. PE was performed daily until normalization of the platelet count and serum LDH levels. Two patients (B.S. and P.M.L.) died 8 and 5 days, respectively, after beginning plasma exchange, and the addition of highdose iv immunoglobulins in one case did not produce any effect. ...

Extracorporeal "blood purification," mainly in the form of hemodialysis has been a major portion of the clinical activity of many nephrologists for the past 5 decades. A possibly older procedure, therapeutic plasma exchange, separates and then removes plasma as a method of removing pathogenic material from the patient. In contrast to hemodialysis, therapeutic plasma exchange preferentially remo...

Extracorporeal “blood purification,” mainly in the form of hemodialysis has been a major portion of the clinical activity of many nephrologists for the past 5 decades. A possibly older procedure, therapeutic plasma exchange, separates and then removes plasma as a method of removing pathogenic material from the patient. In contrast to hemodialysis, therapeutic plasma exchange preferentially remo...

The effects of plasma exchange using a low viscosity plasma substitute on blood viscosity and cerebral blood flow were investigated in eight subjects with normal cerebral vasculature. Plasma exchange resulted in significant reductions in plasma viscosity, whole blood viscosity, globulin and fibrinogen concentration without affecting packed cell volume. The reduction in whole blood viscosity was...

Comparison of the effects of plasma exchange using lipoprotein-deficient plasma with those of LDL apheresis using a dextran sulphate column was undertaken in two groups of Watanabe heritable hyperlipidemic rabbits pre-labelled with 3H-cholesterol. Total and HDL cholesterol were reduced more by plasma exchange but HDL cholesterol rebounded higher after LDL apheresis; rises in HDL cholesterol cor...

Plasma exchange is a therapeutic procedure used to treat a variety of diseases through the bulk removal of plasma. To apply this treatment to patients appropriately, it is essential to understand the methods to remove plasma, its effects on normal plasma constituents, the role of replacement fluids in the treatment, and the risks associated with the procedure. To facilitate the appropriate evid...