Plasma exchange therapy for acute necrotizing encephalopathy of childhood.

IMPORTANCE:Acute necrotizing encephalopathy (ANE) is a rare disease with high mortality. Plasma exchange (PLEX) has recently been reported to treat ANE of childhood (ANEC), but its efficacy is uncertain. OBJECTIVE:This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of PLEX on ANEC. METHODS:A retrospective study was conducted in four pediatric intensive care units from December 2014 to December 2020. All patients who were diagnosed with ANEC were included; however, these patients were excluded if their length of stay was less than 24 h. Participants were classified into PLEX and non-PLEX groups. RESULTS:Twenty-nine patients with ANEC were identified, 10 in the PLEX group and 19 in the non-PLEX group. In the PLEX group, C-reactive protein, procalcitonin, alanine aminotransferase, and aspartate aminotransaminase levels were significantly lower after 3 days of treatment than before treatment (13.1 vs. 8.0, P = 0.043; 9.8 vs. 1.5, P = 0.028; 133.4 vs. 31.9, P = 0.028; 282.4 vs. 50.5, P = 0.046, respectively). Nine patients (31.0%, 9/29) died at discharge, and a significantly difference was found between the PLEX group and non-PLEX group [0 vs. 47.4% (9/19), P = 0.011]. The median follow-up period was 27 months, and three patients were lost to follow-up. Thirteen patients (50.0%, 13/26) died at the last follow-up, comprising three (33.3%, 3/9) in the PLEX group and ten (58.8%, 10/17) in the non-PLEX group, but there was no significant difference between the two groups (P = 0.411). Three patients (10.3%, 3/29) fully recovered. INTERPRETATION:PLEX may reduce serum C-reactive protein and procalcitonin levels and improve liver function in the short term. PLEX may improve the prognosis of ANEC, and further studies are needed.