Patients' quality of life after stopping plasma exchange: a pilot study

Plasma exchange is being widely used to treat various serious medical conditions. There has been very little follow-up data to describe the quality of life (QOL) of plasma exchange-recipients after active plasma exchange has stopped.

To assess the QOL of plasma exchange recipients after stopping plasma exchange.

A pilot study, based on responses to a postal questionnaire and clinical data obtained from the patients' charts, was carried out. The scores were computed from questionnaire responses and analyzed.

The response rate was 59% with 58 patients completing a questionnaire three months after their final plasma exchange therapy. We identified significant heterogeneity in the quality of life of plasma exchange recipients after stopping plasma exchange therapy. This could be driven by different patient co-morbidities. We recommend that during follow up visits, a multi-disciplinary approach including consultation with a social worker might be considered for patients who may continue to have some limitations in their psychosocial activities post-discontinuation of plasma exchange. The high response rate to the questionnaire indicates that PLEX patients are interested in being involved in QOL studies, which suggests potential support for a prospective study of QOL with pre and post questionnaires and more detailed tracking of baseline co-morbidities.