TPE : Therapeutic Plasma Exchange
Description
TPE allows to remove patient’s plasma from the blood and to replace it with fluids which do not contain the large substances, such as antibodies, targeted to be removed. It applies to a wide range of acute diseases but more rarely to chronic ones due to the adverse effects of the replacement fluids, human albumin or fresh frozen plasma, overtime. TPE is usually performed with 5-10 consecutive sessions of 1-2 hours.
Examples of application
- Auto-immune diseases
- Rejection of transplanted organs
- Intoxication
Technical information
In TPE, blood is passed through a plasmafilter which allows plasma to be filtrated. The plasma is then discarded while a substitution fluid containing albumin is injected at the same rate, keeping the patient’s fluid and oncotic pressure balanced.