Leukocytapheresis in the Management of Severe Steroid-Dependent Ulcerative Colitis

Leukocitafereza u liječenju teškog, o steroidima ovisnog ulceroznog kolitisa

Sestre Milosrdnice University hospital and Institute of Clinical Medical Research 2019

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a multifactorial disease of unknown precise etiology and immunopathogenesis. Peripheral blood granulocytes and monocytes/macrophages are the major sources of cytokines, which regulate inflammation. Leukocytapheresis (LCAP) is a method where blood is processed by apheresis system that removes lymphocytes and plasma before being returned to the body. We report the first case in Croatia where we used LCAP in the treatment of a patient with severe steroid-dependent UC. After 12 LCAP procedures, good clinical response was obtained and there were no significant adverse side effects noticed. The patient remained in clinical remission over two years in which he underwent regular follow ups at outpatient clinic. Over a 10-year follow-up period after LCAP, the patient had only occasional clini-cal symptoms of disease activity. The clinical course was complicated with the development of metastatic colorectal carcinoma, which points to the importance of regular disease monitoring rather than the in-creased risk of malignant disease after LCAP. Patients with UC are a demanding group of patients that warrant the search for novel treatment strategies other than conventional pharmacological therapies. Alt-hough LCAP is still not a common treatment modality in our daily practice, data from recent studies sug-gest it to be an effective and safe procedure in the management of active UC patients.
Ulcerozni kolitis (UC) je kronična bolest multifaktorske etiologije čiji detaljan mehanizam imunološkog procesa još nije sasvim razjašnjen, ali ključnu ulogu svakako imaju granulociti i monociti/makrofazi koji reguliraju i pojačavaju upalni proces lučenjem proupalnih citokina. Leukocitofereza (LCAP) je terapijski postupak kojim se prolaskom krvi kroz sustav za aferezu odstranjuju limfociti i plazma prije nego što se krv ponovno vrati u krvotok. U ovom radu je prikazan o steroidima ovisan bolesnik s teškim relapsom UC-a koji je, prvi put u Hrvatskoj, liječen protokolom LCAP. Nakon 12 terapijskih protokola LCAP kod bolesnika je došlo do značajnog kliničkog poboljšanja bez razvo-ja nuspojava. Bolesnik je ostao u kliničkoj remisiji tijekom dvije godine ambulantnog praćenja, a unutar 10 godina praćenja nakon LCAP bolesnik je imao tek povremene simptome aktivnosti bolesti. Klinički tijek bio je kompliciran razvojem metastatskog karcinoma debelog crijeva, što prvenstveno upućuje na važnost redovitog praćenja bolesti, a ne na povećan rizik maligne bolesti nakon LCAP. Bolesnici s UC-om su zahtjevna skupina pacijenata koja zahti-jeva potragu za novim terapijskim strategijama osim onih konvencionalnih farmakoloških. Iako LCAP nije čest modalitet liječenja u svakodnevnoj kliničkoj praksi, novije studije upućuju na to da je postupak učinkovit i siguran u liječenju bolesnika s aktivnim UC-om.

Leukapheresis; Colitis, ulcerative; Colorectal neoplasms; Croatia; Case reports; Leukafereza; Kolitis, ulcerozni; Kolorektalni tumori; Hrvatska; Prikazi slučaja; text; info:eu-repo/semantics/other; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Open access content. Open access content
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0

application/pdf
English

HRCAK oai:hrcak.srce.hr:230266
1138916143

HRCAK PORTAL ZNANSTVENIH CASOPISA REPUB
From OAIster®, provided by the OCLC Cooperative.

edsoai.on1138916143