can i receive dialysis and apheresis
The difference between apheresis and dialysis is that with apheresis they take 200ml of blood out from you and separate it by means of a centrifuge into its elements such as plasma, platelets, white cells or red cells to be replaced or removed. The procedure is performed when there’s an excessive number of these cells or anormalities of proteins and other substances dissolved in the plasma.
When performing dialysis, blood is removed in a similar process like pheresis, however the blood is filtered to remove toxins that a weak or diseased kidney can no longer remove.
In summary, a pheresis procedure removes a blood component whereas with dialysis the blood is filtered by an artifitial kidney dialyzer.
However, Hemodialysis (HD) and therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) are extracorporeal treatments that may both be required in the same patient. When provided separately, 7-8 hours of therapy time is required. But it is possible to perform simultaneously rducing time and personnel. During combination therapy, the TPE circuit is attached to the HD circuit through an extention blood line conected to the HD venous return line, allowing simultaneous operation of both circuits. This is a 4 hour process.
