What therapeutic plasma exchange does.
Therapeutic Plasma Exchange (TPE) is the process of removing your plasma — the liquid part of blood that carries antibodies and immune complexes — and replacing it with donor plasma or albumin. The cells (red, white, platelets) are returned to you.
It is the right treatment when your own antibodies are attacking you: in TTP, in antibody-mediated transplant rejection, in Goodpasture syndrome, in vasculitis with pulmonary haemorrhage, in myasthenic crisis, in Guillain-Barré syndrome.
TPE is not a routine therapy. It is a rescue therapy — used when the body's own immune system has turned against it, and when the antibodies need to come out fast. The discipline is in patient selection, in fluid management, and in supportive care during the session.
