Blood flow analysis of the head and lower limbs by the laser Doppler blood flowmeter during LDL apheresis.

The presence of peripheral arterial disease substantially increases the risk for both morbidity and mortality among end-stage renal disease patients. Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) apheresis has been also applied for the treatment of peripheral arterial disease to reduce LDL levels, resulting in the improvement of the blood flow to the ischemic limbs. In this study, we investigated the continuous changes of the tissue blood flows in the lower limbs and head during LDL-apheresis treatment by a non-invasive method (the non-invasive continuous monitoring method (NICOMM) system). In this study, the tissue blood flow in both the head and lower limbs showed a significantly enhancement from before to after treatment. The tissue blood flow in the lower limbs showed a significantly larger improvement than that in the head. The short-term effects of LDL apheresis were confirmed by using the NICOMM system; thus, this system will be useful for the determination of the appropriate schedule of LDL apheresis for long-term effectiveness.