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Review
. 2023 Mar;25(3):77-83.
doi: 10.1007/s11883-023-01081-7. Epub 2023 Jan 26.

Apheresis: What Should a Clinician Know?

Klaus G Parhofer  1
Affiliations
Review

Apheresis: What Should a Clinician Know?

Klaus G Parhofer. Curr Atheroscler Rep. 2023 Mar.

Abstract

Purpose of review: Apheresis is a treatment option for severe dyslipidemia which has been introduced approximately 40 years ago to clinical practice. This article reviews recent apheresis research progresses, including apheresis for elevated LDL-cholesterol and elevated lipoprotein(a).

Recent findings: While the role of apheresis in treating more common forms of LDL-hypercholesterolemia has been reduced due to the development of new, very potent LDL-lowering drugs, it still plays an important role in treating patients with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia and patients with severe lipoprotein(a) elevation. One apheresis session can decrease LDL-cholesterol, apoB, and lipoprotein(a) by approximately 65%, which results in a time averaged reduction of 30-50%. Although time-consuming, and expensive regular apheresis is very well tolerated and has been proven safe for decades. Apheresis remains a treatment option for severe dyslipidemia, especially in homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia and elevated lipoprotein(a), if other forms of therapy fail to achieve targets.

Keywords: Dyslipoproteinemia; Familial hypercholesterolemia; Lipoprotein apheresis; Lipoprotein(a).

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Conflict of interest statement

Klaus G. Parhofer reports personal fees from Akcea, Amarin, Amgen, and Daiichi-Sankyo; grants and personal fees from Novartis and Sanofi; and personal fees from SOBI, during the conduct of the study.

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