What Conditions Can Plasmapheresis Treat?

Plasmapheresis is a type of treatment process involving the removal of harmful antibodies, cryoglobulin, endotoxin, immune complex, myeloma light chains, cholesterol-containing lipoprotein, or another substance from a patient's blood. While plasmapheresis is similar to dialysis in its mechanism, it specifically filters the problematic substance from the plasma component of the blood. A healthy individual does not have harmful antibodies that can cause damage to other body tissues, but individuals affected by autoimmune diseases and disorders do. Each session can last anywhere from one to three hours depending on what needs to be filtered, and if anything needs to be augmented before the plasma is returned to the patient's body. The frequency of treatment sessions is dependent on the rate of the individual's production of the problem substance. Plasmapheresis can be utilized to help treat the symptoms of numerous disorders, but it does not remove the source of the disorder.