Plasma exchange, for the conditions everyone else just manages
You have carried your diagnosis for years, and you know the routine: the file nobody reads, the results that are apparently not that bad, the plan that never changes. If your condition is one plasma exchange (plasmapheresis) has real evidence for, that plan deserves one more serious look. The first conversation here is free.
- Every new doctor starts my story from zero. Nobody reads the file first.
- My results are apparently not that bad. My mornings say otherwise.
- I plan around flare-ups: the trip I cancelled, the stairs I avoid.
- I have read more about my condition at 2am than some of my doctors have.
No cure is promised on this page. What is promised: the conditions with real evidence, named below, and a doctor who has read your file before you sit down.
Starts with a free call, not a bill
Offered only for conditions with graded evidence
A physician can say no. That is the point
A plan that gets rechecked, by a doctor who read your file
Standard care manages your condition. It rarely revisits it. At AION, one physician owns your whole case: they read your records before you sit down, check your diagnosis against the international evidence for plasma exchange, and give you a straight answer about whether it applies to you. This procedure cannot be bought off a menu here. A physician has to say yes first, and that is exactly why the yes means something.
- Plasmapheresis and therapeutic plasma exchange are the same family of procedure: plasma is removed and replaced with a sterile substitute fluid, by an apheresis-trained team
- Not the same as PRP, the cosmetic injection. They share a word, not a purpose
Where the evidence stands, condition by condition
Plasma exchange is not a general therapy. International apheresis guidelines (ASFA) grade exactly which conditions it helps, and AION follows them. Category I means first-line or strongly supported. Category II means considered case by case, led by a specialist.
- Category I: Guillain-Barré syndrome (AIDP), myasthenia gravis exacerbation, CIDP (chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy), TTP, hyperviscosity syndrome, anti-GBM disease, and certain kidney-transplant complications
- Category II: severe lupus and lupus nephritis, steroid-resistant MS relapse, NMOSD relapse, cryoglobulinemia, Lambert-Eaton syndrome, severe hypertriglyceridemia with pancreatitis, and other specialist-led indications
- Not an indication: general fatigue, detox, wellness, inflammation without a diagnosis, or infections. Plasma exchange does not kill bacteria or viruses
- Post-infectious syndromes such as Long COVID sit in AION's recovery program instead, under its own strictly consented, investigational-evidence framework
Who should ask
Whether plasma exchange is appropriate is a clinical decision made from your diagnosis and your results, not a preference you express. The honest version of who should raise it:
Worth a specialist conversation if
- You live with one of the diagnosed conditions above and want a specialist read on whether it applies to your case
- Your condition is managed, but nobody has revisited the bigger question in years
- You want a straight answer, including no
This is not for you if
- You are looking for a detox, a wellness reset, or a general energy treatment
- You have no diagnosis yet. Diagnostics come first, always
- Your screening shows the procedure would add risk. Your physician will tell you plainly if that's the case
What a session involves, step by step
Plasma exchange at AION is run with the same discipline as any hospital procedure, from the screening that happens before you're accepted to the discharge check after your session ends. How many sessions make sense for your case, and how often, is a decision your physician makes with you and reviews as your plan progresses. It is never set in advance as a fixed package.
Before
Your physician reviews your assessment, blood work, and history, and confirms your eligibility before anything is scheduled. You get time to ask questions, and the risks that apply to your specific case are explained in plain language, not a general disclaimer.
During
Blood is drawn through an IV line, plasma is separated and replaced with a substitute fluid, and an apheresis-trained nurse monitors your vitals continuously for the length of the session. A physician is available throughout, not on call elsewhere in the building.
After
You are observed before you're cleared to leave, and you go home the same day. Your physician reviews exactly how you responded before deciding whether, or when, another session makes sense.
What the risks are
Plasma exchange is the most clinically demanding therapy AION offers, and it is staffed to match: an apheresis-trained nurse on every session, a fresh single-use kit, emergency protocols in place throughout. Like any medical procedure it carries known, manageable risks, and your physician tells you which apply to your case before you decide anything:
- A temporary drop in blood pressure during or after the session
- Reactions to the anticoagulant used in the circuit
- Bruising or discomfort at the needle site
- Tiredness for the rest of the day
Related clinical evidence
View the full clinical evidence library →The evidence behind Plasma Exchange
Therapeutic plasma exchange: established procedure, indication-specific evidence
Plasma exchange and longevity: promising biomarkers are not longer life
Therapeutic apheresis for Long COVID: early signals, then a null controlled trial
INUSpheresis: what the filter removes, and what outcomes remain unproven
Apheresis biomarkers: what a laboratory change can and cannot tell us
Questions about Plasma Exchange
Then plasma exchange is not offered to you. Your physician explains what your results do support instead. That outcome is not a failure of the consultation, it's the entire point of screening first instead of selling a package.
Because whether it's appropriate depends on results your physician hasn't seen yet. Offering it without that would mean guessing, and this is a procedure with real, documented risks. Guessing is not something a physician does with those.
It's an established medical procedure with known risks, which is exactly why AION treats it as one: screening first, an apheresis-trained team, continuous monitoring during every session, and a physician who reviews the risks that apply to you specifically before you decide anything.
That depends on what your physician finds and recommends, not on a fixed package. The number of sessions, how often, and the replacement fluid used are all decided from your case, and discussed openly in your consultation before you commit to anything.
Detox is a marketing word, not a medical one. Plasma exchange is a defined medical procedure with specific indications, documented risks, and physician supervision at every stage. AION doesn't offer it casually, and doesn't promise an outcome.
No. PRP is a cosmetic injection made from a small, concentrated sample of your own platelets. Plasma exchange is a medical procedure that removes and replaces a much larger volume of plasma. They share a word, not a purpose.
The first step is still a consultation: eligibility, timing and session count depend on your history and current results, and your physician confirms them before anything is scheduled. But yes, these are exactly the conditions the procedure exists for, and the conversation starts from your file, not from zero.
Not as a standard indication, because the evidence there is still investigational rather than established. Post-infectious conditions are assessed in AION's recovery program, which handles apheresis-based approaches under a separate, strictly consented framework. For the ASFA-listed conditions above, plasma exchange is established specialist care.
Connected care
One body. Everything connects.
What you've just read is rarely the whole story. These are often part of the same picture.
Treatment
Ozone Therapy
A specific ozone therapy method: a closed-circuit procedure that filters, oxygenates and ozonates blood, run by a trained physician.
Treatment
Hyperbaric Oxygen
Breathing oxygen at raised pressure in a supervised chamber, after a physician eligibility review.
Diagnostics
Cardiovascular & Biological Age
Your real cardiovascular risk and your biological age, measured directly instead of estimated.
Find out if Plasma Exchange is your answer.
One free call. You leave knowing whether AION fits your case, what it would involve, and what it costs. If the honest answer is no, you hear that too, and it costs you nothing to hear it.
Your free call is with Dr Inbar Almon Tofan, AION Department Manager, and Sylvia, Patient Coordinator. It is a first conversation, not a medical consultation.