[The effect of plasmapheresis on the function of the calcium-regulating systems in patients with rheumatoid...

As many as 87 patients with rheumatoid arthritis were examined for changes in the status of the calcium-regulating systems under the influence of therapy. The multimodality treatment of 57 of the patients included discrete plasmapheresis, which allowed the attainment of an earlier and more marked beneficial clinicolaboratory effect. Plasmapheresis contributed to the correction of the status of the calcium-regulating systems: to a decrease of the level of parathyrin, an increase of the concentration of calcitonin, calcidiol, total and ionized calcium.