Retrospective evaluation of therapeutic plasmaferesis indications in our center

Introduction: Therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) is the process of pathological substances (autoantibodies, alloantibodies, immune complexes, lipoproteins, cryoglobulins, etc.) being removed from one's body with the patient plasma and them being replaced with replacement fluid (allogenic donor plasma, colloid, crystalloid). Therapeutic plasma exchange is used either as a primary treatment (primary treatment) or as a complementary treatment (adjunct treatment) in many diseases that can cause high morbidity and mortality. Nowadays, TPE is used in many different clinics (toxicology, endocrinology, etc.), especially in the treatment of hematological, neurological and nephrological diseases, and for an increasing number of indications due to different diseases. Materials and Methods: Adult patients who underwent therapeutic plasma exchange between May 2017 and May 2019 in our therapeutic apheresis center were included in the study. Patient information was obtained by retrospectively examining the patient records in the therapeutic apheresis center and the automation system of our hospital. Results: It was determined that a total of 1957 TPE procedures were performed on 441 patients by our center. The indications were liver diseases (acute liver failure, acute exacerbation of chronic liver failure and rejection after liver transplantation) in 255 (57.8%) patients and non-liver diseases in 186 (42.2%) patients. Of 186 patients who underwent TPE due to non-liver diseases, 69 (37.1%) had hematologic, 38 (20.4%) had neurological, and 32 (17.2%) had renal diesease. 47 (25.3%) TPE were performed due to other diseases. Conclusion: Due to the large number of liver transplants performed in our Liver Transplantation Institute, most of the indications for TPE were liver diseases. However, as a result of the evaluation of TPE indications excluding liver diseases, we found that the indications and the frequency of these indications were consistent with most of the reported results from both Turkey and abroad.