Plasmapheresis Plasmapheresis ( from the Greek plasma , something molded , and apheresis , taking away ) is the removal , treatment , and return of ( components of ) blood plasma from blood circulation . It is thus an extracorporeal therapy . Description During plasmapheresis , blood is initially taken out of the body through a needle or previously implanted catheter . Plasma is then removed from the blood by a cell separator . Three procedures are commonly used to separate the plasma from the blood : Discontinuous flow centrifugation - One venous catheter line is required . Typically , a 300 ml batch of blood is removed at a time and centrifuged to separate plasma from blood cells . Continuous flow centrifugation - Two venous lines are used . This method requires slightly less blood volume to be out of the body at any one time as it is able to continuously spin out plasma . Plasma filtration - Two venous lines are used . The plasma is filtered using standard hemodialysis equipment . This continuous process requires less than 100 ml of blood to be outside the body at one time . Each method has its advantages and disadvantages . After plasma separation , the blood cells are returned to the person undergoing treatment , while the plasma , which contains the antibodies , is first treated and then returned to the patient in traditional plasmapheresis. ( In plasma exchange , the removed plasma is discarded and the patient receives replacement donor plasma or saline with added proteins. ) Medication to keep the blood from clotting ( an anticoagulant ) is generally given to the patient during the procedure . Plasmapheresis is used as a therapy in particular diseases . It is an uncommon treatment in the United States , but it is more popular in Europe and particularly Japan . Indication An important use of plasmapheresis is in the therapy of autoimmune disorders , where the rapid removal of disease causing autoantibodies from the circulation is required in addition to slower medical therapy . Other uses are the removal of blood proteins where these are overly abundant and cause hyperviscosity syndrome . Examples of diseases that can be treated with plasmapheresis : Guillain-Barré syndrome Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy Goodpasture 's syndrome Hyperviscosity syndromes : Cryoglobulinemia Paraproteinemia Waldenström macroglobulinemia Myasthenia gravis Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura ( TTP ) Wegener 's granulomatosis Lambert-Eaton Syndrome   v · d · e   Transfusion medicine Apheresis   ( Plasmapheresis  — Plateletpheresis  — Leukapheresis )  | Blood transfusion  | Coombs test  | Cross-matching  | Exchange transfusion   International Society of Blood Transfusion  | Intraoperative blood salvage  | ISBT 128  | Transfusion reactions Human blood group systems  - Blood type ABO  | Colton  | Duffy  | Hh  | Kell  | Kidd  | Kx  | Rhesus  | Yt Blood products Blood  | Blood donation  | Blood substitutes  | Cryoprecipitate  | Platelets  | Plasma  | Red blood cells Categories : Blood products | Medical treatments | Transfusion medicine In other languages : Deutsch | Français | Nederlands | Polski | العربية | 中文 