EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 4 PM ET, July 22, 2026
Plasma exchange may help treat rare inflammatory disorder
EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 4:00 P.M. ET, WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2026
MINNEAPOLIS 鈥 Plasma exchange can help treat people
with a rare inflammatory disease that can cause blindness, according to a systematic
review and meta-analysis published on July 22, 2026, in, the medical journal of the . Plasma exchange led to
recovery for most people with the disease, which is called myelin oligodendrocyte
glycoprotein antibody-associated disease (MOGAD), and side effects were rare.
Plasma exchange is a procedure where blood is removed from
the body and filtered. The liquid plasma is separated from the blood cells and
removed. The blood cells are mixed with a replacement fluid and returned to the
body.
MOGAD affects the central nervous system. The immune system
attacks protein in the myelin that protects the nerves. Symptoms include vision
loss, muscle weakness, confusion, seizures and headache.
The systematic review and meta-analysis do not prove that plasma
exchange causes the improvements; they only show an association.
The improvements were especially seen in people whose main
symptom was optic neuritis, or inflammation of the optic nerve that connects
the eye to the brain.
鈥淭his evidence is exciting, as many people do not respond
well to the main steroid treatment for MOGAD, and without quick, effective
treatment some of the damage can be irreversible,鈥 said author Marina Vilardo,
MD, of Harvard University in Boston, and a member of the American Academy of
Neurology.
For the review, researchers analyzed all available studies on
the topic, a total of 10 studies with 1,045 people who had 1,368 MOGAD attacks
during the study period. Of the attacks, 41% involved optic neuritis; 29% had
combined symptoms of optic neuritis, spinal cord symptoms such as muscle
weakness and symptoms that affect the brain such as confusion and headache; and
12% had only spinal cord symptoms.
Participants were followed for an average of 11 months. They
were tested for symptoms including visual acuity, or how well they could see details
at a distance. Their recovery was considered excellent if they had complete or
almost complete recovery of symptoms with visual acuity equal to or better than
20/25 vision or the disappearance of symptoms. Recovery was considered good if
they gained function without reaching their baseline level before the attack.
People with optic neuritis had an excellent recovery after
plasma exchange 81% of the time. People who also had spinal cord symptoms or
brain symptoms had a good recovery 94% of the time. Only 3% of people had side
effects related to plasma exchange.
鈥淭his analysis suggests that plasma exchange should be
considered for people who do not respond completely to steroid treatment for
MOGAD and for people who have severe attacks with symptoms such as complete
loss of vision or paralysis,鈥 Vilardo said.
A limitation of the systematic review and meta-analysis is that
the studies involved used different methods and criteria for defining outcomes,
which makes it harder to draw firm conclusions.
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