Friends of Hammersmth Hospital
This year our largest Annual Project is to raise funds to purchase Plasma Exchange equipment (£46,000) for the benefit of dialysis patients being treated by the Renal Department. Plasma Exhange is a procedure involving the separation and removal of the plasma from the blood to remove a diseased substance circulating in the plasma. Some diseases create substances which circulate thorughout the body in the plasma portion of the blood. In certain diseases, such as Vasculitis, these substances are called "auto-antibodies". These auto-antibodies attack healthy cells or tissues. With the use of the Plasma Exchange it is possibile to remove the specific substance causing the disease.