How to improve clotting factors depletion in double‐filtration plasmapheresis

Abstract

Double-filtration plasmapheresis (DFPP), a selective therapeutic apheresis, can deplete pathogenic antibodies/substances, but also important coagulation factors. To determine if the use of a separator filter with different characteristics (CascadefloEC-50 W) as compared to the reference filter (PlasmafloOP-08 W) is as efficient in terms of immunoglobulin loss, but can reduce coagulation factor losses and have similar tolerability. This is a single-center prospective study including 14 patients divided into two groups (7 each): that is, group1=CascadefloEC-50 W and group2=PlasmafloOP-08 W. We measured immunoglobulins, lipid profiles, blood-cell counts, hemostasis (prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time), coagulation factors, and natural anticoagulants at before and after the first DFPP-session. In group 1, the loss of coagulation factors was significantly reduced as compared to group 2 for proteins with a molecular weight of >150 kDa: there was, respectively, an average decrease of 70% vs 31% for fibrinogen (P=0.004), 66% vs 21% for factor V (P=2.16e-07), 60% vs 32% for factor XI (P=6.96e-06), 75% vs 17% for XIII-antigen (P=0.0002), and 47% vs 0% for VWF-antigen(P=0.02). The decrease in post-session IgG was, on average, 45% in group 1 and 50% in group 2 (P=0.13). Those results remained significant even when adjusted to the treated-plasma volume and the pre-DFPP factor values. DFPP, using a CascadefloEC-50W as a first-filter, reduces efficiently IgGs similarly to PlasmafloOP-08W but spares clotting factors.