[Does plasma exchange have a place in the treatment of necrotizing angiodermatitis?].

Necrotizing angiodermatitis is of characteristic clinical expression and is often difficult to treat. It is associated with microcirculatory disorders of hypertensive or diabetic origin. A particularly long course (m = 8 months) in 8 patients with necrotic angiodermatitis (of hypertensive origin in 6 cases and diabetes in 2) resulted in treatment by plasma exchange, two other patients with immunological angiodermatitis being treated similarly because of very similar symptomatology. The 10 patients (3 men, 7 women age range 55 to 80 years) received between 4 and 18 small volume plasma exchanges over 2 to 12 weeks. Results were evaluated from pain and duration of healing, absence of pain being reported by 7 patients and a beneficial effect on healing by 6 patients. No correlation existed between ESR and hematocrit values during treatment and the clinical course. The question arises as to whether the mode of action of plasma exchange in angiodermatitis is related to the purifying of serum factors or a rheological role.