Low-density lipoprotein apheresis (LDL-A) therapy has shown reasonable efficacy in treating nephrotic syndrome (NS) refractory to initial drug therapy and has been covered by National Health Insurance for the indication of drug-resistant focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) since 1992 in Japan and has contributed to liberating substantial number of patients of this disease from entering into end-stage renal disease by easier practical application in actual clinical settings. Subsequently, various beneficial evidence of this treatment has accumulated on those other than FSGS, however, due to the limitation of covered disease insurance only for FSGS, patients with diseases other than FSGS are unlikely to benefit from this treatment in practice. This review summarizes the therapeutic evidence of the beneficial effect of LDL-A accumulated to date and the mechanisms of action analyzed from multifaceted perspectives. examines the applicability of expanding insurance coverage for diseases other than FSGS.
Keywords: LDL apheresis; insurance coverage; non-FSGS; refractory nephrotic syndrome.
© 2023 The Authors. Therapeutic Apheresis and Dialysis published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of International Society for Apheresis and Japanese Society for Apheresis.