[Hemoperfusion and plasma exchange therapy in patients with paraquat poisoning]

In these past three years, we treated 5 patients who attempted suicide by taking paraquat, a herbicide that had been kept at home, by direct hemoperfusion (DHP) alone or in combination with double filtration plasmapheresis (DFPP) in addition to conservative therapy. DHP alone was performed on 3 patients, 2 of whom recovered. The other 1 patient treated by DHP alone and 2 treated by the combination therapy died. These patients showed a plasma paraquat concentration exceeding the survival curve presented by Proudfoot. In such patients, appropriate combinations among hemodialysis, hemofiltration, DHP, and DFPP may be safer and more effective than each therapy alone.