OBJECTIVES A new rapid, automatic, and sensitive screening test useful to detect cryoglobulins in serum samples is proposed. DESIGN AND METHODS The increase of turbidity during the cryoglobulin aggregation was monitored spectrophotometrically in sera from 400 patients with clinical evidence of cryoglobulinemia related disorders and 100 controls. Results were correlated to those obtained by th...

Three patients with cryoglobulinemia have been treated with automated plasma exchange procedures in which the replacement fluid was autologous plasma. obtained at a previous plasmapheresis and incubated in the cold to precipitate abnormal protein. All three responded with a reduction in cryoglobulin level and an improvement in clinical manifestations of cryoglobulinemia. The cost of treatment w...