A comparative assessment of the clinical efficacy of standard and low-volume plasmapheresis in treating patients with bronchial asthma and chronic bronchitis

21 patients with bronchial asthma and chronic obstructive bronchitis resistant to standard therapy have been exposed to discrete plasmapheresis. Changes in the bronchial tree inflammation measured by fibre bronchoscopy and activity of neuron-specific enolase (NSE) in bronchial wash-offs made it clear that low-volume plasmapheresis is not inferior in efficacy to the standard method. The trend in the fall of NSE activity as a marker of diffuse neuroendocrine system objectively reflects attenuating inflammation in bronchial mucosa in response to treatment of chronic obstructive diseases of the lungs using different techniques of plasmapheresis.