Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2008 Jun;66(6):1165-71.

[Plasmapheresis in patients with myasthenia gravis]

[Article in Japanese]
Tetsuro Konishi  1
Affiliations
  • PMID: 18540364
Review

[Plasmapheresis in patients with myasthenia gravis]

[Article in Japanese]
Tetsuro Konishi. Nihon Rinsho. 2008 Jun.

Abstract

This review describes the three ways of plasmapheresis in patients with myasthenia gravis: plasma exchange (PE), double filtration plasmapheresis (DFP) and immunoadsorption (IA). DFP or IA was used for selective removal of antibodies to acetylcholine receptor without replacement of albumin. Plasmapheresis is indicated in patients with myasthenic crisis or before thymectomy. Comparative studies between plasmapheresis and high-dose of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) showed similar transient improvement on myasthenic symptoms up to 4 to 8 weeks. Rapid improvement was obtained by plasmapheresis. In Japan, nation-wide randomized open clinical trial of IVIG is now going on to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of this therapy on moderately involved generalized myasthenia gravis. It is aimed to obtain the license of the government for the usage of this therapy.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

LinkOut - more resources

  NODES
Association 1
twitter 2