[Cryoglobulinemia and extracorporal plasma therapy in severe ischemic stroke].

Forty-five patients with carotid ischemic stroke have been examined within the first 24 hours from the disease onset. The Orgogozo and NIH scales were used to objectify a severity of the patient's state and the Barthel scale--to evaluate a degree of functional rehabilitation. Cryoglobulins (CG) were measured in blood serum by spectrophotometric method on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 7th and 21st days. Selective plasmapheresis was included in the therapeutic complex for 22 randomly selected patients. In both groups, a level of CG positively correlated with a severity of the patient's state on the 1st day of the monitoring (r=-0.5; p<0.01). The study of hemostasis indicated the presence of a direct correlation between an increase of platelet aggregation, blood hyperviscosity and CG concentration (r=0.46; p<0.05 and r=0.74; p<0.01, respectively). Higher scoring on the Orgogozo scale and Barthel scale prevailed in the group treated with plasmapheresis that significantly correlated with a decrease in CG concentration in blood serum (r=-0.6; p<0.05 and r=0.5; p<0.05 respectively). An evaluation of platelet aggregation, blood viscosity and a coagulogram on the 21st day of the disease revealed a significant improvement of blood rheology in the group of patients switched to efferent therapy.