[Intensive plasmapheresis in the treatment of acute pneumonia]. / Intensivnyi plazmaferez v lechenii ostroi pnevmonii.

Modern drug therapy failed to reduce the number of unfavourable outcomes in acute pneumonia. Therefore study of the host responsiveness which plays a crucial role in the course and outcome of pneumonia is showing promise. Disturbed homeostasis, endogenous intoxication, bacteremia and, as a consequence, secondary immunodeficiency make it necessary to look for new treatment methods. The authors suggest the use of plasmapheresis in combined therapy of acute pneumonia running its course in association with pronounced intoxication because of deranged immunity. In emergency cases, the use of intermittent plasmapheresis that requires minimal time for preparation and unsophisticated equipment appears the most acceptable.

[The clinical aspects of using plasmapheresis in sepsis]. / Klinicheskie aspekty primeneniia plazmafereza pri sepsise.

The rise of the sepsis incidence at therapeutic hospitals, the emergence of new forms and evolutionally new mechanisms of infection, insufficient efficacy of antibacterial therapy necessitate the search of novel approaches to the treatment of sepsis. The use of plasmapheresis (PP) in 27 sepsis patients allowed a two-fold reduction of the lethality as compared to that in the control group. The main mechanisms by which PP acts may involve deblockade of the system of phagocytosing mononuclears, enhancement of the efficacy of antibacterial therapy, protective action on the system of natural detoxication of the body.