{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.021739130434782608, 'fraction_numerical': 0.010869565217391304, 'mean_word_length': 5.094076655052265, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Plasma exchange for acute idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura.

In the spring of 1983 the Canadian Plasma Exchange Study Group began a study of plasma exchange for the treatment of acute idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) that has failed to respond to steroid therapy. The number of patients referred has been disappointingly low thus far, perhaps because there are several alternative treatments currently in vogue for this disorder. These include prednisone therapy, with which there is a high relapse rate in adults; splenectomy, which, among other things, predisposes to overwhelming sepsis and impaired response to polyvalent pneumococcal vaccine; and intravenous -y-globulin therapy, which is extremely expensive and is unproven in terms of long-term efficacy in adults. Danazol therapy, a more recent treatment of ITP, does not show long-term efficacy and has troublesome side effects. In short, none of the existing treatments is thoroughly satisfactory otherwise a standard treatment of ITP would have evolved by now. In comparison with these treatments, plasma exchange has given impressive results in patients with acute ITP. For example, two patients with severe ITP and platelet counts of less than 10 X 109/L had failed to respond to high-dose corticosteroid therapy (100 mg orally daily for over 3 weeks). After four and nine plasma exchange procedures respectively their platelet counts remained above 100 X 1 09/L. These preliminary data suggest that early plasma exchange may prevent ITP from becoming chronic and may obviate the need for splenectomy. Therefore, I urge physicians to enter all eligible patients into this trial so that we can reach as soon as possible what, either way, will be a very important conclusion.