Complications of Pediatric Apheresis.

Objectives

Even if the practice and applications of apheresis have grown over the last decade, the data in pediatrics are limited. The frequency of the complications is low in adults but there is a lack of clinical trials assessing the nature and the frequency of the complications in children.

Methods

We have revised the medical files of all patients (0–18 years old) who have undergone an apheresis at Ste-Justine Hospital (pediatric hospital in Montreal, Canada) between November 1994 and July 2002. The reported complications were: symptoms of hypocalcemia, hypotensions (drop of systolic BP ≥10 mmg Hg), complications of the vascular access (thrombosis and infection), reactions to blood products and severe anemia.

Results

A total of 1632 aphereis were performed on 186 different patients (32 distinct diagnosis). The procedures were plasma exchange (67%), peripheral blood stem cells collect (18%), red cell exchange (6,9%), cytoreduction leucapheresis (0,7%) and immunoadsorption (6,7%). Adverse reactions, although mostly minor, were reported in most of the patients. The more frequent complications were hypotensions (14% of apheresis and 48,4% of patients), hypotensions which needed bolus (4,8% of apheresis and 26,9% of patients) , symptoms of hypocalcemia (9,7% and 28,5%), allergic reactions (4,4% and 5,9%) and troubles related to the vascular access: infection (2,1% and 16,1%) and thrombosis (1,7% and 12,4%). A severe anemia (Hb < 70g/L) complicated 2,5% of apheresis (17,2% of patients). There were two deaths related to procedures. With a multivariate analysis, we have identified independent risk factors for occurence of complications: lower weight, lower hemoglobin pre-pheresis, pheresis in ICU and number of pheresis.

Conclusion

The incidence of complications of apheresis in our pediatric cohort is much higher than what is reported in adults. The adverse reactions can be explained by the citrate toxicity, the extravascular volume shift and the vascular access installed. We consider that apheresis in pediatrics present unique features and should be done in specialized centers.