engleski

Therapeutic apheresis(TA) in Croatian hospital- adherence to respectable guidelines

Introduction:Besides considerable resources, TA requires highcosts and risk for patients. Therefore, indication for TA often con-siders interests of patient, hospital and requesting physician. Themost respectable guidelines for the implementation of TA weredefined by AABB and ASFA, classifying total of 58 diseases into 4categories (Ctg), ranging from ‘standard therapy’ to ‘lack of effi-cacy’. The objective of this study was to determine indications forTAperformed in 6 Croatian hospitals in the period 2001–2004, respecting AABB/ASFA guidelines.Results:During the observed period in Croatia, TA was performedin 777 patients suffering from 26 various diseases. In 514 (66%)patients TA was performed by membrane filtration, while in 263(34%) separation by centrifugation was used (Table 1). Accordingto the 4 Ctg, s of the AABB/ASFA guidelines, TA was performed in573 (74%) diseases from Ctg I, 126 (17%) Ctg II, 54 (6%) Ctg III, and 25 (3%) Ctg IV of patients. The most frequent indicationsincluded in Ctg I were: myasthenia gravis (32%), collection of PBPCs(31%), Sy. Guillain-Barré (17%), and plasmacytoma (6%). In Ctg IIfrequent indications were: poisonings (35%), systemic lupus ery-thematodes (30%), and rapidly progressing glomerulonephritis(14%), and in Ctgs III and IV: cytoreduction-polycythaemia (52%), thyroid storm (15%), GVHD (10%), and reumatoid arthritis (8%).Conclusion:The vast majority of TAs (699 patients, 91%) were per-formed for the diseases classified into AABB/ASFA Ctgs I and II.This data points to the good adherence to AABB/ASFA guidelinesregarding the use of TA in Croatian hospitals.

therapeutic apheresis(TA), guidelines

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