Does Offline Beat Inline Treatment: Investigation into Extracorporeal Photopheresis

Abstract

The offline procedure, as established in our department, provides more apoptotic cells for treatment. The increased number of mononuclear cells collected outweighs a slightly reduced apoptosis rate after 24 h in comparison to the inline procedure. Besides this, the final decision for one or the other procedure has to take into account additional aspects, such as peripheral white blood cell count, hematocrit, and weight of the patient, required before apheresis, extracorporeal volume, and, last but not least, overall costs. The final criterion, however, has to be the reported clinical efficacy of the system applied.