Plasma exchange in patients with acute renal failure in the course of multiorgan failure.

Multiorgan failure (MOF) due to intoxication, trauma or sepsis in the progressive late stages always include acute renal failure (ARF). The prognosis of these patients is poor despite adequate dialysis. This study included 27 consecutive patients (20 men and 7 women, age range 15-77 years) with a rapid progress of MOF including ARF, who were treated by plasma exchange as an attempt to reverse the progress of MOF. Twenty-three of the patients suffered from a septic shock. Oliguria or anuria was present in all, dialysis was performed in 16 of them, and mechanical respiratory aid in 17. Plasma exchange was performed 1-10 times and almost exclusively by centrifuge technique, using albumin and/or liquid stored plasma (in a few cases fresh frozen plasma) as colloidal replacement fluid. Twenty-two patients survived (81%) and 5 patients died. The reasons of death were cerebral haemorrhagia, brain abscess, myocardial sudden death, relapsing sepsis from multiple hepatic abscesses and a not drained psoas abscess. All survivors could leave hospital recovered from renal failure with few other sequelae. The plasma exchange technique is easy to perform despite low blood pressures by using a vein to vein access. Plasma exchange, therefore, may be tried to reverse late stages of multiorgan failure.