Leucocyte apheresis

In 1914, Abel et al. developed the therapeutic hemapheresis procedure to avoid the major side effect of bloodletting (Daskalakis 2026).

In the 1990s, a method of leukocytapheresis was developed in Japan for the treatment of chronic inflammatory bowel diseases (Kiefel 2026).

Leukocytapheresis is an extracorporeal procedure in which granulocytes and monocytes are specifically removed from the blood (Antwerpes 2023).

Leukocytapheresis is a type of apheresis procedure in which granulocytes and monocytes are specifically removed from the blood (Antwerpes 2023).

• Indications:

Leukocytapheresis is used for

• hyperleukocytosis associated with leukemia
• ulcerative colitis (Herold 2025)
• Crohn’s disease
• Psoriasis
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Pyoderma gangrenosum (Antwerpes 2023)

• Procedure:

In leukapheresis, blood is drawn from the patient and separated into its components by centrifugation using a cell separator. After the leukocytes are collected, the remaining cellular components are returned to the patient (Pschyrembel 2026).

Treatment can be administered 1–2 times per week over a period of 4–6 weeks (Antwerpes 2023).

• Antwerpes F, Güney O T, Ostendorf N (2023) Leukocytapheresis. Doc Check Flexikon https://flexikon.doccheck.com/de/Leukozytapherese
• Daskalakis M, Mansouri-Taleghani B (2026) Therapeutic hemapheresis. In: Kiefel, V., Sachs U (2026) Transfusion Medicine and Immunohematology. Springer Verlag Berlin / Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-71825-4_27).
• Herold G et al. (2025) Internal Medicine. Herold Verlag 963
• Kasper D L, Fauci A S, Hauser S L, Longo D L, Jameson J L, Loscalzo J et al. (2015) Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine. McGraw-Hill Education
• Kiefel V, Sachs U (2026) Transfusion Medicine and Immunohematology: Fundamentals – Therapy – Methodology. Springer Verlag Berlin 474
• Pschyrembel Online (2026) Leukapheresis. https://www.pschyrembel.de/Leukapherese/B0A5S