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. 2019 Jun 18;49(3):872-878.
doi: 10.3906/sag-1811-105.

Therapeutic plasma exchange in hypertriglyceridemic patients

Ilgın Yıldırım Şimşir, Utku Erdem Soyaltın, Banu Sarer Yürekli, Mehmet Erdoğan, Şevki Çetinkalp, Füsun Saygılı, Ayhan Dönmez, Ahmet Gökhan Özgen

Therapeutic plasma exchange in hypertriglyceridemic patients

Ilgın Yıldırım Şimşir et al. Turk J Med Sci. .

Abstract

Background/aim: High triglyceride (TG) levels are associated with increases in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD), hepatic steatosis, and pancreatitis. Acute pancreatitis is a condition with high mortality. Therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) in the treatment of hypertriglyceridemic pancreatitis (HTGP) is a rapid and effective treatment modality. In this study, the results of TPE were evaluated and the frequency of lipoprotein lipase (LPL) mutation in these patients was determined.

Materials and methods: TPE was performed in 31 patients with HTGP at the Adult Therapeutic Apheresis Center.

Results: A TG level under 500 mg/dL was achieved by applying apheresis at a median of 2 times (IQR 2–2, min 1, max 6) in the 31 cases. LPL mutation was detected in 8 (25.8%) of the 31 hypertriglyceridemia cases. When TG levels before and after TPE were evaluated, the mean TG level before TPE was significantly higher (3132 ± 1472 mg/dL) than the mean TG level afterwards (948 ± 465 mg/dL, P < 0.001). This result represented a decrease of 69.7% TG after TPE.

Conclusion: TPE is a safe, fast, and effective treatment modality in experienced centers.

Keywords: Hypertriglyceridemia; pancreatitis; apheresis; therapeutic plasma exchange; fresh frozen plasma.

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Conflict of interest statement

CONFLICT OF INTEREST:

none declared

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