An extracorporeal blood treatment apparatus and method for removal of free circulating infectious agents

摘要

In view of recently reported dynamics of HIV replication in vivo removal of the free HIV by continuous extracorporeal blood filtration may significantly and non-selectively reduce the total viral burden. A simple two-stage size separation circuit based on the available filtration technology and dialysis hardware for the treatment of acute renal failure should offer high single-pass elimination of the free virus suggesting a time constant of approx. 10 to 15 minutes for the systemic clearance. An acute treatment session of some ten days may tip the balance in favor of what now is known to be a massive and effective response of the immune system.