Starch and albumin mixture as replacement fluid in therapeutic plasma exchange is safe and effective

Therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) is an effective treatment in Myasthenia gravis (MG) and Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and 5% human albumin is the replacement fluid of choice; however, it is expensive. More recently, it has been suggested that starch is a safe and cheaper choice to human albumin.

To evaluate our 5-year experience using 3% hydroxyethyl starch (HES) and 5% human albumin mixture, as replacement fluid in TPE for these diseases.

Retrospective study carried out from January 2001 through September 2006. We included those patients with MG and GBS undergoing TPE. We analyzed clinical outcome (CO) and adverse events (AE) and our results were compared with a previous study which included similar patients undergoing TPE using just 5% human albumin.

Thirty-one procedures were carried out in 26 patients, a total of 147 TPE sessions. In the group of MG we had 57% complete responses (CR) and 86% overall response (OR) while in the group of GBS we had 40% CR and 60% OR. When we analyzed our CO with the previous study no statistical differences were found. Mean processed plasma volume (PPV) was 4.2 in MG and 5.5 in GBS. Twenty patients had AE, being hypotension and catheter dysfunction the most frequent ones, while tachycardia, hypertension and paresthesias were statistically more frequent in the HES/albumin group.

TPE with a mixture of 3% HES and 5% human albumin is as effective and safe as 5% human albumin alone for patients with these diseases.