artificial spleen

Havent posted in some time- I am a long time ITPer (over 10 yrs, I think) and had my spleen removed three years ago this coming November during a period when my platelets had plummeted to zero. THankfully it worked and i've been in remission since, platelets in the 300s.

A research article has been just published that is of interest- about the development of an "artificial spleen" that cleared bacteria in the blood of rats. THis may be helpful to us spleenless folks in the future-

Summary can be found here-

www.nature.com/news/artificial-spleen-cleans-up-blood-1.15917

cheers!
Mark

WAY COOL!

I saw that too. I was pleased because my hematologist keeps sending me off for abdominal ultrasounds to check my spleen. I like knowing that there may be a backup available. I saw another useful report on the artificial spleen here:

www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/282531.php

Maybe this technology can be improved to create an implantable artificial spleen.

Thank you for sharing. I am a special education teacher and having a weakened immune system caused by the removal of my spleen is a big concern for me.

Thanks for your responses and thoughts -

I think its still years away before this would be useful in humans. As for an implantable version, Im not sure- it may be a tricky decision.

It may not be worth the surgery and possible complications of filtering your blood all the time via such an implnated device (just speculating that there would be complications), weighed against the likelihood of getting a serious blood infection, which is, from my perspective, small. Im not sure of recent data but in a 2002 study the chances are the same as "having a fatal road accident" (on the other hand you should see me behind the wheel- ha ha). So a spleen isn't essential like a kidney.

Which leads to the idea of an "external" artificial spleen -something like dialysis-- that would be used in an emergency. The problem here is that in the unlikely event of an asplenic person getting septicemia, time is of the essence and hours can mean life or death.

So its tricky... We'll be able to think more clearly about it when it get developed further in the next few years

Mark

Mark:

Those were the same thoughts I had but didn't want to rain on the parade. My mind thinks like that too but it went in the direction of causing blood clots. I thought of it more as plasmapheresis which filters out antibodies, but I guess dialysis is pretty darn close too. Filtered blood either way and I'm not all that sure how this is so different or cutting edge. We'll keep an eye on it though and see what comes out of it.

There's a lot of impressive biotech that is years away from practicable use in humans. And even even the biotech that is useable now can often only be utilized under limited conditions.

I see potential for a device like the biospleen not just for asplenic individuals but also for anyone whose spleen is not functioning normally, in particular during a hospital stay or surgery. It could eventually be a useful assistive device of sorts, too. But as Sandi and Mark pointed out, that's years off.