The Italian Register of therapeutic apheresis: How it has grown, how it has changed.

In Italy therapeutic apheresis procedures were carried out for the first time in the '70s. in the '80s the Italian Society of Hemapheresis was founded, formerly named SIDE, now SIdEM (Italian Society of Hemapheresis and Cellular Manipulation). From the beginning, the collection and the analysis of activity data have been seen as a way to improve the knowledge on mechanisms of action, to identify the correct rationale in order to intervene in the most appropriate clinical indications. Over the years the data collection has been refreshed and today we can rely on information representing the evolution of TA in Italy, from an organizational/technological viewpoint and according to clinical indications. Over the years the aspects that have mainly changed are the technologies, the organizational and managerial aspects and, above all, the clinical indications. The primary indication for therapeutic apheresis is still today the thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, but corrently, whenever a disease recognizes an autoimmune pathogenesis, the use of apheresis may be a valid therapeutic tool in the event of failure or partial efficacy of conventional drug therapy. The continuous monitoring of apheresis activity through Registries is a useful tool to follow the evolution of the apheresis practice.