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The American Society for Apheresis (ASFA) Journal of Clinical Apheresis (JCA) Special Issue Writing Committee is charged with reviewing, updating, and categorizing indications for the evidence-based use of therapeutic apheresis in human disease. Since the 2007 JCA Special Issue (Fourth Edition), the Committee has incorporated systematic review and evidence-based approaches in the grading and categorization of apheresis indications. This Seventh Edition of the JCA Special Issue continues to maintain this methodology and rigor to make recommendations on the use of apheresis in a wide variety of diseases/conditions. The JCA Seventh Edition, like its predecessor, has consistently applied the category and grading system definitions in the fact sheets. The general layout and concept of a fact sheet that was used since the fourth edition has largely been maintained in this edition. Each fact sheet succinctly summarizes the evidence for the use of therapeutic apheresis in a specific disease entity. The Seventh Edition discusses 87 fact sheets (14 new fact sheets since the Sixth Edition) for therapeutic apheresis diseases and medical conditions, with 179 indications, which are separately graded and categorized within the listed fact sheets. Several diseases that are Category IV which have been described in detail in previous editions and do not have significant new evidence since the last publication are summarized in a separate table. The Seventh Edition of the JCA Special Issue serves as a key resource that guides the utilization of therapeutic apheresis in the treatment of human disease. J. Clin. Apheresis 31:149-162, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The American Society for Apheresis (ASFA) JCA Special Issue Writing Committee is charged with reviewing, updating and categorizating indications for therapeutic apheresis. Beginning with the 2007 ASFA Special Issue (Fourth Edition), the committee has incorporated systematic review and evidence-based approach in the grading and categorization of indications. This Sixth Edition of the ASFA Special Issue has further improved the process of using evidence-based medicine in the recommendations by consistently applying the category and GRADE system definitions, but eliminating the 'level of evidence' criteria (from the University HealthCare Consortium) utilized in prior editions given redundancy between GRADE and University HealthCare Consortium systems. The general layout and concept of a fact sheet that was utilized in the Fourth and Fifth Editions, has been largely maintained in this edition. Each fact sheet succinctly summarizes the evidence for the use of therapeutic apheresis in a specific disease entity. This article consists of 78 fact sheets (increased from 2010) for therapeutic indications in ASFA categories I through IV, with many diseases categorized having multiple clinical presentations/situations which are individually graded and categorized. J. Clin. Apheresis 28:145-284, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP or photopheresis) is an advanced therapeutic apheresis procedure in which blood is separated into its various components and the isolated buffy coat is treated with 8-methoxypsoralen (a photoactivating drug), exposed to ultraviolet light and returned to the patient. All other remaining blood components are also returned to the patient. The purpose of this procedure is immunomodulation. The treated leukocytes, specifically T-cells, are returned to the patient's circulation and will induce cytotoxicity and reduce proliferation of new T-cells. In the United States, ECP was initially approved for the treatment of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma by the US Food and Drug Administration in the late 1980s. Since that time, it has been used as an 'off-label' therapy to treat several other autoimmune diseases in the United States and even more extensively in Europe and Asia. The following review is limited to the current clinical use of ECP in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, Crohn's disease, systemic sclerosis, graft versus host disease, and emerging data on nephrogenic systemic fibrosis. J. Clin. Apheresis, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) is a life-threatening disease treated successfully with plasma exchange. Jehovah's Witnesses whose religious beliefs preclude them from accepting plasma exchange may require alternative forms of therapy. We report a case of one such patient who presented with TTP, whom we successfully managed with vincristine and responded favorably without the need for plasma exchange. J. Clin. Apheresis, 2007. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]