Therapeutic or Preventive Procedure
plasmapheresis Audio
plas·ma·pher·e·sis [ plaz-muh-fuh-ree-sis ]
Subclass of:
Extracorporeal Circulation; Sorption Detoxification; Apheresis (procedure)
Definitions related to plasmapheresis:
  • A procedure that collects plasma from the peripheral blood while returning the rest to the donor.
    NCI
    U.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
  • Procedure whereby plasma is separated and extracted from anticoagulated whole blood and the red cells retransfused to the donor; plasmapheresis is also employed for detoxification in therapeutic use.
    CRISP Thesaurus
    National Institutes of Health, 2006
  • The process of separating certain cells from the plasma in the blood by a machine; only the cells are returned to the person. Plasmapheresis can be used to remove excess antibodies from the blood.
    NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms
    U.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
  • Plasmapheresis is a term used to refer to a broad range of procedures in which extracorporeal separation of blood components results in a filtered plasma product. The filtering of plasma from whole blood can be accomplished via centrifugation or semipermeable membranes.
    Medscape
    WebMD, 2025
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This content should not be used in place of medically-reviewed decision support reference material or professional medical advice. Some terms may have alternate or updated definitions not reflected in this set. The definitions on this page should not be considered complete or up to date.