A Rationale for Plasma Therapy in Poliomyelitis

Abstract

The observations that the plasma albumin level is frequently lowered in clinical poliomyelitis and that the severity of the disease is correlated with the degree of such reduction, coupled with the concept that edema of the central nervous system may contribute to the pathogenesis of the paralysis in poliomyelitis lead to the idea that admn. of plasma, and primarily the albumen component, by raising the colloid osmotic pressure of the blood, may alleviate the edema, and consequently the symptoms of the infection. Preliminary results with 76 patients are in accord with this hypothesis, and may indicate that 600-900 ml./day of plasma should be admd.