Academy
Therapeutic apheresis - update on technique and applications – CME and workshop on 27-28 March 2026 at AIIMS, New Delhi India
Hem Chandra Pandey
Department of Transfusion Medicine at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
Gopal Kumar Patidar
Department of Transfusion Medicine at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
Rahul Chaurasia
Department of Transfusion Medicine at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
Apheresis has been an evolving as a therapeutic modality for patient care in India for the past two decades.
It has though remained limited to tier 1 and tier 2 cities probably due to the lack of knowledge and resources. With the number of transfusion physicians increasing in the country, the spectrum of therapeutic apheresis has also expanded and the need for educational and training programmes in this area has been felt. This event was thus planned as a two-day program with the first day dedicated to a continuing medical education (CME) session while the second day was dedicated to be a hands-on-workshop. In CME session, the speakers shared their experience in an interactive format covering all aspects from technology and instrumentation to practical application of apheresis for therapeutic purposes. The workshop day was designed to provide the participants with hands-on experience involving apheresis equipment and demonstrations of therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) and peripheral blood stem cell collection (PBSC). ISBT Academy has been instrumental in providing financial assistance for both these events.
Soumya Das
Shamee Shastry
Satyam Arora
Mohit Chowdhary
Sourabh Sharma
Hans Vrielink
Satya Prakash
Aseem Tiwari
Deepti Sachan
Ranjit K. Nair
Vijay Kumawat
The second session was designed to discuss the clinical aspects of the therapeutic apheresis. The first presentation of this session by Dr Mohit Chaudary addressed the significance of the understanding of the patient variables on consultation prior to therapeutic apheresis procedure. The next talk was presented by Dr Sourabh Sharma who being a practising nephrologist discussed patient management during therapeutic apheresis procedure. The final presentation of this session by Dr Hans Vrielink provided the general introduction of the therapeutic application of apheresis. The highlight of the session was the interactive discussion at the end where participants made use of the experience of the speakers to get their doubts addressed. The session was followed by the lunch.
The CME on the first day was attended by 120 participants including faculty, resident doctors and technical staff from various hospitals across India. The CME was also attended by specialists from across the medical disciplines including Transfusion Medicine and Nephrology. The first presentation of the opening session by Dr Soumya Das, covered the fundamental principles of apheresis and instrumentation. The next presentation by Dr Shamme Shastri addressed the significance of understanding of the patient physiology in therapeutic apheresis. The third presentation by Dr Satyam Arora focussed on the technical aspects of the therapeutic apheresis procedures including vascular access, anticoagulation and replacement fluids. The session concluded with lively discussion where participant doubts were addressed by the speakers. The session was followed by the inauguration of the program.
The subsequent sessions focused on system specific indications of therapeutic apheresis including haematological, transplantation, renal and liver settings. Dr. Satyaprakash shared his centre’s experience of using therapeutic apheresis for haematological indications such as sickle cell anemia, microangiopathies etc. Similarly, Dr. Aseem Tiwari gave a presentation on the use of the therapeutic apheresis in haematopoietic stem cells and solid organ transplantations with examples from his real-life experience. This session was followed by presentations from Dr Deepti Sachan and Dr. Ranjit K Nair on the application of therapeutic apheresis in hepatology and nephrology conditions, respectively. The final presentation was given by Dr. Vijay Kumawat who discussed the applications of therapeutic apheresis for neurological conditions with examples from his extensive experience working in a neurology referral centre.
Anil Khetrapal, Hans Vrielink, . R R Sharma, Meenu Bajpai – Panellists
Group photo of partipants
Partipants in one of the sessions
Demonstration of apheresis equipment operation in workshop
Demonstration of Kit installation in workshop
Hans Vrielink explaining the technical aspects during workshop
The last session of the CME included a panel discussion on the rarer uses of the apheresis for therapeutic applications such as LDL apheresis, photopheresis, tandem procedures etc. The panellists shared their views based on moderator’s questions on various aspects of apheresis other than those where it is used commonly. All the sessions engaged the audience and were interactive. All the sessions were chaired and moderated by experienced specialists in therapeutic apheresis from across the country. They also participated in discussions and interactions with speakers and participants.
On the second day, the workshop was attended by 34 participants including resident doctors and technicians. On the initial discussion with the participants it was observed that majority of centres are already using apheresis for donor related activities and in process to start therapeutic procedures such as plasma exchange and PBSC collections. The workshop started with explaining the parts of the equipment, demonstration of kit installation, explaining patient safety related alerts and operation of the equipment. The second session included a live demonstration of the therapeutic plasma exchange and HSCT collection procedures. The participants were also demonstrated doing a blood prime in case the procedure is being done on a child. The participants were also provided opportunity to install the kits and to perform the procedure by themselves. The sessions were appreciated by the participants and majority were confident that they would be able to perform the procedures at their centres. Overall, the CME and workshop were able to bridge the knowledge and technical gap among the participants. Majority of participants were hopeful that this would help them in establishing the modality at their centres. ISBT has always been helpful in initiating such activities and the activity was extremely successful in increasing the interest of participants in this aspect of apheresis.
