Overview of therapeutic plasma exchange in pediatric neurology: a single-center experience

Therapeutic plasma exchange in clinical pediatric neurology practice: Experience from a tertiary referral hospital

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to retrospectively evaluate the long-term efficacy, tolerability, and safety of therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) in children with various neuroimmunological disorders.

METHODS

This analysis was a single-center, retrospective cohort study of pediatric patients with neuroimmunological events undergoing TPE procedures in a tertiary referral center.

RESULTS

There were 23 patients, 14 boys (60.9%), aged at diagnosis onset 8 months to 16.8 years. The main indications of TPE were Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS, n = 8), autoimmune encephalitis (n = 5), febrile infection-related epilepsy syndrome (FIRES, n = 4), and acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM, n = 3). There was no life-threatening complication due to the TPE procedures. Eight (34.8%) of 23 patients experienced 13 (7%) complications in 186 TPE procedures, mostly electrolyte disturbances (n = 5). None of patients discontinued TPE due to complications. Two (8.7%) of 23 patients had marked improvement, 6 (26.1%) had moderate and 11 (47.8%) had mild improvement after TPE. The last follow-up visit revealed neurological sequelae in 12 (52.2%) patients. Therapeutic plasma exchange was found to be more effective on GBS, autoimmune encephalitis and myasthenia gravis, less effective on ADEM and FIRES. There was no correlation between improvement with TPE and clinical parameters, including age, sex, diagnosis, disease duration before TPE, presence of intubation, and length of stay in the intensive care unit and hospital.

CONCLUSION

Therapeutic plasma exchange was found to be effective and well-tolerated in children with various types of neuroimmunological disorder, with at least mild improvement in approximately 80% of the patients and no life-threatening complications.

Isovolemic filter-based therapeutic plasma-exchange with fresh frozen plasma is associated with minimal thromboelastometric changes in noncoagulopathic patients

The aim of this study was to assess the effects of isovolemic therapeutic plasma-exchange using fresh frozen plasma on coagulations parameters assessed by standard coagulation tests and rotational thromboelastometry in noncoagulopathic patients. Twenty patients who underwent isovolemic filter-based therapeutic plasma-exchange of approximately 1.5 plasma volume per session were included in the current study. Standard coagulation tests and rotational thromboelastometry (ExTEM, InTEM, FibTEM and ApTEM) were performed 30 min before and after the procedure. Isovolemic therapeutic plasma-exchange was associated with decreased fibrinogen levels (P = 0.01). Thromboelastometric assay demonstrated an increased clotting time in both ExTEM (P = 0.03) and InTEM (P = 0.01) and a decreased thrombodynamic potential index in ExTEM (P = 0.03). No significant difference in FibTEM maximum clot firmness was recorded (P = 0.41). Therapeutic plasma-exchange in noncoagulopathic patients is associated with minimal changes in thromboelastometric parameters, mainly by an increase in clotting time in both intrinsic and extrinsic pathways.

The Role of Therapeutic Plasma Exchange in the Treatment of Childhood Intoxication: A Single-Center Experience

OBJECTIVES

Therapeutic plasma exchange is used to treat neurologic, hematological, renal, and autoimmune diseases with a known or suspected etiopathogenesis. However, there is incomplete understanding of the use of therapeutic plasma exchange in pediatric cases of intoxication. This study investigated 5 years of experience with therapeutic plasma exchange to treat intoxication cases.

DESIGN

A retrospective, case series, single-center study.

SETTING

PICU of Baskent University, Dr. Turgut Noyan Teaching, and Medical Research Center Hospital in Adana, Turkey.

PATIENTS

Fourteen patients diagnosed with intoxication who underwent therapeutic plasma exchange between January 2013 and January 2018.

INTERVENTIONS

None.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS

Data pertaining to 14 patients, including their medical history (exposure to drugs/toxicants), demographics, initial presentation, and severity of clinical symptoms (requirement of mechanical ventilation, Glasgow Coma Scale score, and the pediatric severity of illness score [Pediatric Logistic Organ Dysfunction] were retrospectively reviewed. The most common indication for therapeutic plasma exchange was multiple drug intoxication, followed by amitriptyline, Amanita phalloides mushroom, carbamazepine, mercury, verapamil, and botulism. All patients underwent therapeutic plasma exchange and two patients underwent hemodialysis before therapeutic plasma exchange. There was no mortality or complications related to the therapeutic plasma exchange procedure. Clinical improvement was observed after therapeutic plasma exchange in 13 of the 14 patients; one patient with verapamil intoxication died.

CONCLUSIONS

Therapeutic plasma exchange appears to be safe and effective for treating pediatric cases of intoxication, including multidrug and amitriptyline intoxication, and is associated with significant recovery in the majority of severely affected patients. Treatment of intoxication with therapeutic plasma exchange should be guided primarily by the properties of the causative toxic substances/drugs, and consideration of patient age, the severity of clinical symptoms, Pediatric Logistic Organ Dysfunction score and response to initial supportive and antidotal treatment.

Therapeutic plasma exchange in the pediatric intensive care unit: A single-center 5-Year experience

The objective of this study is to characterize clinical indications, safety and outcome with the use of TPE in critically ill children. All TPE procedures performed in a tertiary pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) during a 5-year period were retrospectively evaluated. A total of 75 patients underwent 249 sessions of TPE. Sepsis-induced multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) was the most common indication with 29.3 %. American Society for Apheresis classifications were as follows: Category I: 24 %, Category II: 16 %, Category III: 45.3 % and Category IV: 4%, while 10.7 % of the patients could not be classified. TPE was performed without any adjunct procedures in 188 sessions (75.5 %), while it was combined with continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) in 49 sessions (19.7 %) and with CRRT and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in 12 (4.8 %) sessions. Overall survival rate was 73.3 %. The survival rate in patients requiring only TPE was 86.5 %, while the survival rates of patients who had CRRT and ECMO were 45 % and 33.3 %, respectively. Complications associated with the procedure occurred in 48 (19.2 %) TPE sessions. The lowest survival rate (31.9 %) was in patients with sepsis-induced MODS. Finally, we also found significantly higher organ failure rate, mechanical ventilation requirement, and PRISM III score at PICU admission in non-survivors. Our experience indicates that TPE can be performed relatively safely in critically ill children with appropriate treatment indications. Survival rate may vary depending on the underlying disease; however, it must be noted that survival rate is very high in children requiring TPE only.

Apheresis in Autoimmune Encephalitis and Autoimmune Dementia

Autoimmune encephalitis (AE) is a rapidly progressive inflammatory neurological disease. Underlying autoantibodies can bind to neuronal surfaces and synaptic proteins resulting in psychiatric symptoms, focal neurological signs, autonomic dysfunction and cognitive decline. Early and effective treatment is mandatory to reduce clinical symptoms and to achieve remission. Therapeutic apheresis, involving both plasma exchange (PE) and immunoadsorption (IA), can rapidly remove pathogenic antibodies from the circulation, thus representing an important first-line treatment in AE patients. We here review the most relevant studies regarding therapeutic apheresis in AE, summarizing the outcome for patients and the expanding clinical spectrum of treatment-responsive clinical conditions. For example, patients with slowly progressing cognitive impairment suggesting a neurodegenerative dementia can have underlying autoantibodies and improve with therapeutic apheresis. Findings are encouraging and have led to the first ongoing clinical studies assessing the therapeutic effect of IA in patients with anti-neuronal autoantibodies and the clinical presentation of dementia. Therapeutic apheresis is an established and well tolerated option for first-line therapy in AE and, potentially, other antibody-mediated central nervous system diseases.

Therapeutic plasma exchange in pediatric intensive care: Indications, results and complications

Therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) is an effective treatment method in selective indications. Secondary to access and technical features, it is more difficult to apply in pediatric population than adults. The aim of this study is investigate safety, clinical indications, and results of this method in critically ill pediatric patients who need TPE treatment. All of the TPE procedures performed in a pediatric intensive care unit providing tertiary care during 4 years (2015-2019) were evaluated retrospectively. TPE procedures (635) were performed for 135 patients. Median age was 34 months (10-108). Ninety-seven patients had mechanical ventilation support. Sepsis with multiple organ failure was the most frequent indication and accounted for 44.4% (n = 60) of the indications followed by hematological and neurological diseases (19.2% and 9.6% respectively). TPE was performed alone in 469 cases (73.9%), in combination with continuous renal replacement therapy in 154 cases (24.2%), and additional to extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in 12 cases (1.9%). Hematological disease and sepsis subgroups had the highest intubation rate, mechanical ventilation period, PRISM score, organ failure count, and mortality. Fresh frozen plasma (FFP) was the most frequently used replacement fluid in 90.4% of the procedures. The most frequent anticoagulant used in TPE was acid citrate dextrose solution (79.3%). Procedural complications were detected in 104 cases (16.3%) and occurred during TPE sessions. Overall survival rate was 78.5%. We found that the non-survivor group had significantly higher rates of organ failures (P = 0.0001), higher PRISM scores on admission (P = 0.0001), and higher rates of invasive ventilation support needed (P = 0.012). TPE is a treatment method which can be safely provided in healthcare facilities with necessary medical and technical requirements. Although it is riskier to provide such treatment to critically ill children, complications can be minimized in experienced healthcare facilities. Overall results are good and can vary depending on indication.

Complications of therapeutic plasma exchange: A retrospective study of 1201 procedures in 435 children

Therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) is now widely used in therapy of multiple diseases in children, by removing the plasma with pathogenic agents from patients. However, adverse reactions may limit its application.A retrospective cohort study of 435 hospitalized children treated with 1201 plasma exchange procedures between January 2013 and July 2018 were enrolled.Complications occurred in 152 procedures (12.7%); 90 procedures (7.5%) had ≥2 complications. No death occurred. The most common complications were pruritus and urticaria (7%), followed by hypertension (1.92%) and hypotension (1.17%). One child had an outbreak of disseminated cryptococcosis neoformans infection, another child developed anaphylactic shock, and 3 children presented toxic epidermal necrolysis after TPE. The incidence of pruritus and urticaria was higher in children of the 6∼15 year group (P < .05) compared with other age groups. There was no significant difference in the incidence of hypertension and hypotension in children at different ages and weights (P > .05). Compared with other diseases, anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate (anti-NMDA) receptor encephalitis led to a higher incidence of complications in children (P < .05).The results suggest that TPE is a relatively safe procedure for children, and most of the complications are mild. The most common complication is pruritus and urticaria. However, serious complications such as toxic epidermal necrolysis and infection should still be taken seriously.

Prognostic indicators of improvement with therapeutic plasma exchange in pediatric demyelination

OBJECTIVES

To determine the safety and clinical benefit of therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) as rescue therapy in children with acute inflammatory demyelinating CNS syndromes and to identify baseline prognostic indicators of treatment improvement.

METHODS

This single-center retrospective pediatric cohort included all consecutive patients admitted to our hospital over the period from 2003 to 2017 because of a steroid-refractory acute CNS event presumed to be inflammatory who required TPE. Functional status assessment to identify improvement included the following performance category scales: visual outcome, bladder control, gait, and Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS). These assessments were performed before and after TPE in every patient.

RESULTS

Sixty-five children requiring TPE to treat 78 CNS attacks were included for analysis. Median age at TPE was 10.5 years (1.9-18 years); 45% were girls. Seropositivity (aquaporin-4 water channel-immunoglobulin G [IgG] or myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein-IgG) was found in 20 of 42 (48%) patients. Attack phenotypes leading to TPE were optic neuritis (ON) in 42%, longitudinally extensive transverse myelitis (LETM) in 31%, ON + LETM in 15%, and other combined syndromes in 11%. Overall, moderate to marked neurologic improvement was observed in 72% of children at the end of TPE and in 88.5% at 6 months of follow-up. Lower baseline scores on the EDSS, visual outcome, and gait scales were found to be independent prognostic indicators of treatment benefit. Sex, age at onset and at TPE, attack phenotype, disease duration, and time from attack onset to TPE initiation were not significantly associated with treatment outcome. Adverse events were observed in 31 of 524 (5.9%) procedures, being severe in 4.

CONCLUSIONS

TPE was an effective rescue therapy associated with functional improvement. No therapeutic window for TPE initiation was identified in this pediatric cohort. Overall frequency of adverse events was low; however, serious events should be anticipated and avoided.

CLASSIFICATION OF EVIDENCE

This study provides Class IV evidence that for children with acute inflammatory demyelinating CNS syndromes, TPE leads to functional improvement.

Application of Plasma Exchange in Steroid-Responsive Encephalopathy

Plasma exchange has been widely used in autoimmune neurological diseases and is the standard treatment for myasthenia gravis crisis and Guillain-Barre syndrome. A growing body of research suggests that, in the clinical application of steroid-responsive encephalopathy, such as for Hashimoto's encephalopathy, limbic encephalitis, systemic lupus erythematosus encephalopathy, ANCA-associated vasculitis encephalopathy, and acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, plasma exchange is a safe, and effective option when steroids or other immunosuppressive therapies are ineffective in the short term or when contraindications are present. Additionally, plasma exchange can also be used alone or in combination with steroids, immunoglobulins, or other immunosuppressive agents to treat steroid-responsive encephalopathy. This paper reviews the clinical application of plasma exchange in steroid-responsive encephalopathy, including its indications, onset time, course, curative effects, and side effects.