We present six patients with acute fulminant episodes of CNS inflammat
ory demyelination who responded to therapeutic plasmapheresis after fa
iling a course of high-dose methylprednisolone administered IV. Neurol
ogic improvement occurred in three of the patients following the secon
d plasmapheresis. Dramatic improvement in motor function (four patient
s) and language (two patients) began within 2 to 14 days and persisted
during the 6 to 35 months (mean, 15 months) of follow-up. Results of
this uncontrolled study suggest that plasmapheresis in the absence of
other immunosuppressive drugs may have a role in the treatment of seve
re episodes of inflammatory demyelination in a select subset of MS pat
ients.