The goal of therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) is to remove autoantibodies, pathogenic molecules, immune complexes, toxins, high concentration lipoproteins, and pathological proteins. We aimed to present the most common indication of TPE and rate of admission to the intensive care unit. From 2011 to 2014, our retrospective study was conducted including 1069 inpatients from the Tehran Blood Transfusion Center, which was responsible for performing therapeutic apheresis in all 122 hospitals of Tehran. The patients, based on their TPE indication, were classified into five groups: hematological and oncological, neurological, renal, rheumatological diseases, and all the remaining diseases. We performed 6329 procedures of TPE on 1069 inpatients. Of the patients, 479 (44.8%) were male and 590 (55.2%) female. Their age varied from a minimum of 2 years to the maximum of 93 years. Overall, the mean of TPE sessions for each patient was 5.92 ± 3.9; 415 (38.8%) patients were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). ASFA categories I/II indications were considered an appropriate request for TPE, and 82.97% (887) of all TPE were suitable. The most frequent categories of TPE indications are as follows: neurological, hematological, and renal diseases. Class I/II indications in the neurological diseases, myasthenia gravis (21.7%), Guillain‐Barré disease (21%), and multiple sclerosis (13.3%), were the most prevalent. In the hematological category, thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) (14.1%) was observed to be greater than the other indications. We observed that the most prevalent illnesses are neurological (myasthenia gravis), hematological (TTP), and renal.

Background and Objectives Therapeutic Plasma Exchange (TPE) is one of the effective methods of treating various diseases. This study is aimed at discerning the most prevalent TPE indications and accessing the effectiveness of TPE in curing neurological patients. Materials and MethodsDuring one year (2014)(2015), all referred neurologic patients, that is 250 cases, in this study had undergone therapeutic plasma exchange and were evaluated and the outcome (death or remission) was observed. We used comparison analysis, variance analysis of variables, t-test (t-student), chi-square (chi-two) and logistic regression. Statistical analysis performed with IBM statistics SPSS (ver.21). ResultsOut of these 250 neurologic patients, 118 (47Á2%) were men, and 132 (52Á8%) were women. 236 (94Á4%) patients were cured: 111(47%) men and 125 (53%) women. The most common diseases in our study were Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) with 86 (34Á4%) cases, Myasthenia gravis (MG) with 80 (32%) cases, Multiple sclerosis (MS) with 35 (14%) cases, respectively. Statistically, age is one of the effective variables in clinical improvement (P < 0Á001). Admission in the intensive care unit (P = 0Á001), level of consciousness (P = 0Á001), requiring mechanical ventilation and respiratory conditions (P = 0Á001) were also effective in recovery. ConclusionThe most common disease in our study was Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS). 33Á6% (i.e. 84) of all patients were bedridden admitted in ICU who had 10 times less chance of recovery than patients admitted in the ward (P = 0Á001). Among these neurologic patients, age, admission in intensive care unit, level of consciousness, requiring mechanical ventilation and respiratory conditions were significant in the treatment, statistically.