Proceedings of the Inaugural Strategy Meeting for the Establishment of a Southeast Asia Regional Therapeutic Plasma Exchange Consortium for Neurological Disorders.
Shanthi ViswanathanMetha AppiwatanakulAshwini NayakBadrul IslamBhupendra KhatriDavid PangeranHimanshu BambardekarKartika MaharaniKevin TanMathew AlexanderMohammad E HussainMohd S AdenanNabil Aa DanapaulNajib KhalifeOhnmar OhnmarBeng Hooi OngRiwanti EstiasariSari N HanifaSasitorn SirithoChen Fei NgSylvanie RatnaThirugnanam UmapathiWin M ThitYetty RamliYvonne Yl LeeFu-Liong HiewPublished in: Therapeutic apheresis and dialysis : official peer-reviewed journal of the International Society for Apheresis, the Japanese Society for Apheresis, the Japanese Society for Dialysis Therapy (2019)
In conjunction with the third regional Southeast Asian (SEA) therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 25 clinicians and researchers from SEA and South Asian countries attended the inaugural strategy meeting for the establishment of a regional TPE consortium for neurological disorders. The primary objective was to establish regional collaboration to improve delivery of TPE services in SEA. A pre-meeting survey was conducted to gather insights on disease spectrum, contextual practice challenges, and the need for a regional TPE consensus. Challenges identified include limited healthcare funding in support of diagnostic workup, TPE therapy, as well as development of clinical infrastructure and expertise capacity building. There was favorable interest in developing a working plan contextualized to this region. Strategies to overcome challenges were discussed. This included the need for a comprehensive referral system and network of regional TPE centers suited to local needs, supported by innovative TPE delivery programs.