Nephrotic syndrome and plasmapheresis

We studied 15 patients suffering from nephrotic syndrome (NS) in biopticall y-accertained primary and secondary glomerulopathies responding poorly to t he common pharmacological treatment They were monitored for one year by ass essing their immunological and kidney functionality parameters, especially proteinuria. The patients underwent 3 apheretic sittings using the cascade double-filtration technique. After the third apheretic sitting the patients received metilprednisolone 300 mg/m(2). This therapy was repeated every mo nth for 6 months. At the end of the apheretic cycle it was shown that ail patients had respon ded well to the therapy with a dramatic decrease in proteinuria, maintenanc e and/or recuperation of kidney functionality and improvement of lipidic as set; these data remained unchanged over time. Considering our preliminary r esults, we believe that therapeutic apheresis has a precise function in ref ractory nephrotic syndrome and, in particular, we propose the use of the ca scade double-filtration technique.