CURRENT STATUS IN EXTRACORPOREAL IMMUNOMODULATION - IMMUNE DISORDERS

Today, clinicians can choose from a variety of extracorporeal immunomo dulatory procedures such as plasma exchange, double filtration, immuno adsorption, chemoadsorption, photopheresis, and cytoapheresis. The mec hanisms underlying extracorporeal immunomodulation (ECIM) comprise rem oval of pathogenic antibodies and circulating immune complexes as well as reticuloendothelial system deblockage; modification of immune comp lex structure and processing can be induced by changing the antigen/an tibody ratio and by modulation of immune complex solubility via comple ment activation. Finally, cellular components like lymphocyte subsets, can be modified. Clinical examples of ECIM include lupus erythematosu s, Goodpasture's syndrome, antineutrophil cytoplasmatic antibodies-med iated systemic vasculitis, myasthenia gravis, and, hypothetically, sep sis.