Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis treatment alternatives
At present, there is no known effective treatment for NSF. Physical therapy or treatment with topical and systemic steroids has had a variable benefit. Immunosuppressive therapy is ineffective. Plasmapheresis, a process in which blood taken from a patients is treated to extract the cells and corpuscles which are then added to another fluid and returned to the body, has led to an improvement in some. The drug Thalidomide led to an improvement in a few patients as well. Others have improved after restoration of normal renal function either spontaneously or as a result of a renal transplant. There is a proposal that a dose reduction in erythropoietin, a hormone produced in the kidneys that increases development of red blood cells in bone marrow, might improve NSF. Two patients were given Pentoxifylline, a substance with activity against tumor necrosis factor. Skin changes in the first patient who had late-stage disease seemed to slow or arrest it and the second patient stabilized and had a slight reversal of disease.
