IMPROVED CEREBRAL BLOOD-FLOW IN PATIENTS TREATED BY A SINGLE HEPARIN-INDUCED EXTRACORPOREAL LDL PRECIPITATION (HELP)

The impact of heparin-induced extracorporeal low density lipoprotein ( LDL) precipitation (HELP), a method that safely and effectively reduce s plasma lipoproteins and fibrinogen and improves the haemorheologic p attern and blood flow properties, on regional cerebral blood flow (rCB F) was investigated in 10 patients with chronic cerebral infarctions. rCBF was measured by the Xenon-133 clearence method. Patients underwen t a single HELP procedure after the first measurement of rCBF, and the second measurement was done one hour after the HELP session. 10 other patients with similar clinical symptoms and findings in CAT scan whic h were riot subjected to HELP firmed as controls. The HELP treatment p roduced an immediate and statistically significant reduction of all pa rameters relevant to haemorheology, such as plasma fibrinogen, whole b lood viscosity at both, high and low shear rate, plasma viscosity, and red cell transit time. Total cholesterol, LDL, and triglycerides were reduced, too. The treated group showed significantly improved rCBF re lative to the untreated controls to between 8.5 and 18.8 %. These resu lts indicate that HELP has a potent impact in situation where a quick and drastic fluidification of the blood is required, thereby obtaining an improvement of rCBF.