Abstract
Plasmapheresis involves the separation of all cellular elements of blood with the
help of an extracorporeal semipermeable membrane. Even though plasmapheresis is generally
considered safe, there have been anecdotal reports of thrombosis related to this exchange.
We present 2 cases of healthy young males developing ischemic strokes within 24 hours
of plasmapheresis. Patient A was a 24-year-old man with a family history of Factor
V Leiden mutation presented with right-sided weakness 1 hour after donating plasma.
A hypercoagulable work-up revealed elevations in Factor II. Patient B was a 42-year-old
man who presented with a right facial droop, expressive aphasia and right arm weakness.
He had donated plasma 18 hours before his presentation. A hypercoagulable work-up
revealed elevated levels of von Willebrand factor antigen and high sensitivity C-reactive
protein. A procoagulant state induced by plasmapheresis likely increases the risk
for symptomatic thrombosis when an underlying thrombophilic state is present in the
donor.
Key Indexing Terms
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: March 29, 2018
Accepted:
March 28,
2018
Received in revised form:
March 20,
2018
Received:
November 26,
2017
Footnotes
☆The authors have no financial or other conflicts of interest to disclose.
Identification
Copyright
© 2018 Southern Society for Clinical Investigation. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
