Successful Treatment of Ulcerative Colitis with Leukocytapheresis Using
Non-woven Polyester Filter
Hiromi Sakata, *Naoyuki Kawamura, Takashi Horie, *Hiroko Ohizumi, Tohru
Tamaki, Kazutaka Kukita, Jun-ichi Meguro, Motoki Yonekawa, *Masao Saitoh,
and Akio Kawamura

Abstract:
Ulcerative colitis is a chronic inflammatory disease of the rectum and
colon. Although the pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis is not fully
elucidated, cell-mediated immunity plays an important role in disease
pathogenesis. Leukocytapheresis is a newly emerging therapy to eliminate
activated leukocyte from systemic circulation. We have studied the effects
of leukocytapheresis on patients with ulcerative colitis who had failed to
respond to conventional therapy. A total of 51 patients with ulcerative
colitis were treated with apheresis using a non-woven polyester fiber filter
(Finecell, Asahi Medical Co., Tokyo, Japan) originally developed as a
microcoagulation elimination filter for massive transfusion. Of the 51
patients, 33 (64.7%) achieved clinical remission manifested by clinical
activity and colonoscopic findings without any adverse effects. This result
suggested that leukocytapheresis using Finecell might serve as an
alternative therapy for ulcerative colitis as other leukocytapheresis using
centrifugation or column.