Acute plasma separation with hemodialysis equipment

Although plasma separation has been reported to have a relatively small complication rate in large series of healthy outpatients, little attention has been directed to the evaluation of the safety and effectiveness of the therapy in acutely ill, hospitalized patients. The experience of using standard hemodialysis equipment and membrane plasma separators with 281 plasma separation treatments in 49 patients over the last 7 yr is reported and analyzed. The data reveal a 1.4% incidence of hypotension and a 0.4% incidence of hematuria in the 281 treatments--rates similar to those reported in outpatients. In addition, analysis of the diseases and patients treated over the 7 yr reported demonstrates a marked shift from immunological and hematological disorders towards neurological disorders. The data suggest that plasma separation may be easily and safely performed by any institution capable of performing acute hemodialysis.