Immunoadsorption in steroid-refractory multiple sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disorder, with involvement of both the humoral and cellular components of the immune system. The use of plasma exchange (PE) in steroid-refractory relapses has become an integral part of national and international guidelines for the treatment of steroid-resistant relapses of MS with an efficacy of 40-70%. So far, 6 studies of immunoadsorption (IA) treatment in different forms of MS have been published, 4 of them in steroid-refractory MS relapses. These 4 studies revealed a significant clinical improvement in 73-85% of patients with steroid-refractory MS relapses. However in MS patients with non-active relapsing-remitting or secondary progressive course, there was no clinical improvement. Despite the limited number of patients and studies, these data suggest a reasonably similar efficacy of IA in the treatment of steroid-refractory MS relapses compared to PE. More prospective trials are needed to confirm and extend these results. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.