June 4, 2024During World War II, Dr. Edwin Cohn ingeniously adapted a cream separator machine to revolutionise medicine. His process separated whole blood into its vital components, saving lives on the battlefront; including those wounded during the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Today, we call this process Apheresis, derived from the Greek word meaning “to remove or separate a part from the whole.” Since April this year, Northern Health Cancer Services offers Apheresis as a critical service. Led by Head of Clinical Hematology, Dr. Rachel Cooke, nursing staff at the Oncology and Medical Day Unit, located at Northern Hospital Epping, have been trained to use the cutting-edge Spectra Optia Apheresis machine, pictured above.
Key Applications of Apheresis:
Plasma Exchange: Harmful autoantibodies are extracted and replaced with normal plasma. Patients’ plasma is swapped with either a donor’s or a plasma substitute.
Red Cell Exchange: This technique treats sickle cell disease by replacing abnormal sickle cells with healthy red blood cells.
Leukopheresis: Excess white blood cells are meticulously removed from circulation, especially in acute leukemia cases.
Director of Cancer Services, Associate Professor Prahlad Ho, says this ‘life saving treatment’, benefits hematology, neurology and renal patients, and negates the need for them to go to ICU or transfer to other hospitals.
Dr. Cooke adds, “We currently offer elective plasma exchange and plan to expand to red cell exchange and emergency apheresis in the future.”
Melissa Gwynne, Nurse Unit Manager, Day Oncology, shares her excitement about this expansion.
“Patients in our community no longer face the burden of traveling to other hospitals for apheresis treatments,” she says.
Pictured: Tess Roeg (kneeling), Melissa Gwynne, Rachel Cooke, Dalia Joseph, Nisha Poly and Anna O’Brien (patient).
