Long-term plasma-exchange. (A feasible treatment in systemic lupus erythematosus and other diseases)

The cost of long-term plasma-exchange is comparable with that of chronic hemodialysis and less than long-term residential care. If it could be shown that it saved lives or enabled patients to live in the community when they would otherwise be disabled, then the cost would not matter. At present, however, although there are suggestions that it may save lives in such diseases as myeloma and macroglobulinemia and reduce disability in the connective tissue disorders, these benefits are not well enough documented to justify its routine introduction.