[The results of 5 years' use of a method for heparin cryoprecipitation of plasma proteins (selective plasmapheresis) in patients with an immune-complex pathology].

The paper treats the results of the 5-year use of plasma protein heparin cryoprecipitation (selective plasmapheresis) (SPA) in patients with immune complex pathology. The method consists in the removal of fibronectin and bound complement components, cryoglobulins, cryofibrinogen, circulating immune complexes (CIC), and other gross-dispersed proteins in the presence of heparin in the cold. The SPA was applied to 122 patients with immune complex diseases and syndromes. Altogether 1279 procedures were carried out. The method turned out effective in 80% of patients with hemorrhagic vasculitis, systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, and other types of vasculitis. The changes in the blood serum concentration of immune complexes correlated with the time-course of changes in the clinical and laboratory parameters. The SPA efficacy was in agreement with the reduction in the level of immune complexes. Provided 2-3 procedures were carried out a week, the lowering of the level of immune complexes and other laboratory parameters marking the degree of inflammation could be seen by procedures 4-6. Therefore, to attain a stable clinical effect, its is necessary to perform not less than 6 SPA procedures. It has been demonstrated that SPA can be used an unlimited number of times, for the use of the method does not entail the development of plasma protein deficiency. This circumstance is of paramount importance for the treatment of chronic relapsing immune complex diseases.