Abstract
The article deals with plasmapheresis and immunoadsorption at the child age. It describes the indications, contraindications, untoward effects and technical aspects of the methods and offers evaluation of more recent, selective and patient-friendly immunoadsorption as compared with classical plasmapheresis.
Whereas plasmapheresis is an already established method, immunoadsorption represents a therapeutic possibility, which is relatively new for pediatrics and its use has been continuously given increasing precision. At the present time the main indications of immunoadsorption include the group of autoimmune diseases and diseases with presumed immunological etiological participation (for example dilatation cardiomyopathy, hemophilia with inhibitors, thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, rheumatoid arthritis),metabolic diseases (LDL apheresis in familial hypercholesterolemia) and the application in transplantology (for instance organ transplantation with HLA hyperimmunization, and reaction of the graft against the host).