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apheresis |
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apheresis (əfĕr`əsĭs), or hemapheresis (hē'məfĕr`əsĭs), any procedure in which blood blood, fluid pumped by the heart that circulates throughout the body via the arteries, veins, and capillaries (see circulatory system ; heart ). An adult male of average size normally has about 6 quarts (5.6 liters) of blood. ..... Click the link for more information. is drawn from a donor or patient and a component (platelets, plasma plasma, in physics, fully ionized gas of low density, containing approximately equal numbers of positive and negative ions (see electron and ion ). It is electrically conductive and is affected by magnetic fields. ..... Click the link for more information. , or white blood cells) is separated out, the remaining blood components being returned to the body. Apheresis allows the donor's blood volume to replenish itself much more quickly than whole blood donation. One type of apheresis, plasmapheresis, is commonly used in commercial blood banks. In plasmapheresis the plasma (the liquid portion of the blood) is separated from donated blood, the red blood cells being returned to the donor. In some diseases, such as myasthenia gravis myasthenia gravis (mīəsthē`nēə grä`vĭs) ..... Click the link for more information. , plasmapheresis is used to attempt to remove the disease-causing substances from the blood. How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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Plasma pheresis separates the plasma from other blood components and is retained while the other blood components are returned to the donor through the same needle. Blood donors must be at least age 17 years old, weigh at least 100 pounds for whole blood donations and 110 pounds for pheresis donations and be in good general health. Because platelets are in critical supply, the Red Cross is urgently seeking platelet pheresis donors and is expanding the hours of three donor centers to accommodate these special donations. |
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