Meaning of PLASMAPHERESIS

Pronunciation:			`plazmu'ferisis
WordNet Dictionary
	Definition:		[n]  plasma is separated from whole blood and the rest is returned to the donor
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	See Also:		apheresis, pheresis
Medical Dictionary
	Definition:		A procedure whereby plasma (which contains proteins, such as antibodies) is separated and removed from the blood and replaced with another solution, such as saline or albumin.
Biology Dictionary
	Definition:		This is a medical method in which some blood is removed from a person. The blood cells, after being separated from the plasma (usually via centrifugation), are returned to the person. It has been speculated that this method removes certain proteins that are deleterious to the person, such as autoantibodies. Some limited success has been achieved in the treatment of conditions including: myasthenia gravis (MG), Eaton-Lambert syndrome (ELS), chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP), Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS), paraproteinemia, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and multiple sclerosis (MS).