Publication:

Therapeutic plasma exchange in Gullian Barre Syndrome: an experience of our centre

Background Therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) has been used for the treatment of neurological diseases in which autoimmunity plays a major role. Although, there are several modes of plasmapheresis applicable to Gullian Barre Syndrome (GBS) but no definite guidelines for selecting an optimum mode have been established so far. The aim of the study was to analyze the clinical benefits of plasma exchange (PE) on the patients of GBS and compare the cost effectiveness of TPE over other modalities.

Methods Records of 36 patients who received TPE between March 2015 to September 2015 were analysed using continuous flow cell separator CS-3000. All the patients had undergone minimum 2 cycles of PE. One plasma volume was exchanged for each cycle.

Results Out of 36 patients, there were 28 (77.78%) male and 8 (22.22%) females. The mean age of patient was 28.23±1.23 years which range from 12 to 36 years.  After TPE on 36 patients, 28 (77.78%) patients clinically improved after first cycle of PE and 5 (13.89%) patients improved after second cycle. Patients who received 4 and 3 cycle of PE experience no complications and >75% and 55-60% patients showed improvement respectively.

Conclusions The treatment is cost effective in comparison to the available IV immunoglobulins. TPE is an easy and effective treatment in GBS.