The fluctuation of skin perfusion pressure in hemodialysis patients treated with LDL apheresis therapy: A comparison of LDL adsorption and double filtration plasmapheresis.

BACKGROUND: There have been a number of reports suggesting that LDL apheresis, including LDL adsorption and double filtration plasmapheresis (DFPP), can be applied for the treatment of lower extremity peripheral arterial disease (PAD) in hemodialysis patients, whereas there is no definitive recommendation for the use of LDL apheresis. STUDY DESIGN: The change of skin perfusion pressure (SPP) during LDL apheresis was measured in every single treatment to determine the effect of LDL adsorption and DFPP on improving blood flow in lower extremity PAD hemodialysis patients. Eleven hemodialysis patients treated with more than two series of LDL apheresis were involved in the study. "One series" included 10 treatments of LDL apheresis according to the Japanese health care insurance system. RESULTS: In total, 320 treatments (32 series) of LDL apheresis were performed utilizing either LDL adsorption or DFPP treatment in 11 patients. The SPP values pre- and post-apheresis were recorded in 315 treatments (228 LDL adsorption and 87 DFPP). The SPP was significantly improved after both LDL adsorption (P < .001) and DFPP (P = .002) treatment. The median change of SPP was significantly larger in the LDL adsorption group (12.6 mm Hg, range: -48.5, 77.0 mm Hg) than in the DFPP group (6.7 mm Hg, range: -42.0, 72.5 mm Hg) (P = .003). The LDL adsorption consistently offered a significant increase in the SPP, whereas DFPP treatment seemed to have modest effects on the improvement of SPP compared to the LDL adsorption. CONCLUSIONS: These data indicate that LDL adsorption should be considered the primary LDL apheresis therapy for lower extremity PAD in hemodialysis patients to achieve improvement of blood flow.

Comparison of adsorption efficiency of leukocytes in single needle GMA with or without PSL treatment in patients with active ulcerative colitis.

Granulocyte monocyte adsorption (GMA) is considered one of the modalities for the remission induction of ulcerative colitis (UC). We previously reported that single-needle GMA (SN-GMA) could simplify the GMA. In the present study, the efficiency of SNGMA was examined according to the administration of corticosteroids (PSL) in UC patients. Blood sample were taken at proximal and distal side of the column during the SN-GMA treatment. Disease activity score (partial Mayo score: pMayo score) before and after the SN-GMA was investigated. The data of 18 patients with active UC (11 and 7 patients with PSL naïve and PSL use groups, respectively) treated with SN-GMA was analyzed. The mean pMayo score before the GMA treatment was comparable between the PSL naïve group (p = 0.26), whereas the score after the GMA treatment was significantly lower in PSL naïve group (0.8 + 0.6) than in PSL use group (3.0 + 2.1) (p = 0.04). Patients achieving the clinical remission were more observed in the PSL naive group (90.9%) than in the PSL use group (42.9%) (p = 0.047). The adsorption efficiency in the PSL naïve and PSL use groups were as follows: leukocytes (34.45 ± 7.43% vs 23.14 ± 7.56%: p = 0.008), granulocytes (41.74 ± 10.07% vs 27.99 ± 15.11%: p = 0.04), monocytes (32.59 ± 24.07% vs 33.16 ± 24.18%: p = 0.95), and lymphocytes (-1.87 ± 18.17% vs -3.79 ± 22.52%: p = 0.84), with a significant difference of the absorption efficiency in leukocytes and granulocytes. These data collectively indicate that the SN-GMA can be applied for the remission induction to active UC patients with a higher clinical remission rate in PSL naïve patients compared to PSL use patients.