Therapeutic plasma exchange was not linked to significant functional improvement across a mixed group that included ALS
Original source
Association of therapeutic plasma exchange with functional outcomes in selected neurological disorders: a retrospective cohort study from a single tertiary center in Saudi Arabia. (opens in a new tab)Compass summarised this from the study's abstract.
Study details
- Studied in
- Human
Population inferred from the title and abstract by Compass.
A retrospective study examined therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) in 133 patients with several neurological disorders at one hospital in Saudi Arabia. ALS was included among the other neurological conditions, but that broader group did not show a significant functional improvement 90 days after treatment. The study found improvements in several other disorders, including multiple sclerosis, myasthenia gravis and Guillain-Barré syndrome.
Why this matters
For people with ALS, this study does not show that TPE improves function or changes treatment. The ALS-specific results were not reported separately, so the findings cannot establish whether TPE helps or harms people with ALS.
Limitations and context
This was a retrospective, single-center study of mixed neurological disorders. The number of participants with ALS and their individual outcomes were not provided. Because treatment was not assigned randomly and other factors could affect outcomes, the study cannot establish that TPE caused any changes. The authors called for prospective studies.