Efficacy and safety of plasmapheresis in symptomatic hyperviscosity and cast nephropathy: A Multicenter Experience in...

Cast nephropathy (CN) and hyperviscosity (HV), which we encounter in plasma cell diseases, are serious clinical manifestations that increase mortality and morbidity if not managed well in the early period. Therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) procedures based on the removal of patient plasma is a frequently preferred treatment modality. TPE is recommended at varying levels of evidence for the treatment of CN and HV in plasma cell disorders.

A total of 61 patients, 50 with multipl myeloma (MM) and 10 with Waldenström macroglobulinemia (WM), who underwent TPE for CN and HV, were included in our multicenter, and retrospective study.

A statistically significant decrease was found in all disease-related biochemical markers, which were measured 1 week after the application of TPE added to standard medical treatment (IgG; p < 0.001, IgM; p = 0.004, IgA; p = 0.14, kappa light chain; p < 0.001, lambda light chain; p < 0.001, β-2 microglobulin; p < 0.001, total protein; p < 0.001, albumin; p < 0.001, LDH; p = 0.02, creatine; p < 0.001, hemoglobin; p = 0.010). Clinically, all 11 patients who underwent TPE for HV responded. While a partial response (PR: 80 %) was obtained in 40 of 50 MM patients with CN, no response was obtained in 10 patients (non-response: 20 %).

In conclusion, it was observed that TPE reduced all biochemical markers related to HV and CN, while making a significant contribution to clinical improvement. We believe that adding TPE to the standard treatment in this patient group will reduce mortality and morbidity in the early period and have a positive effect on survival in the long term.