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Samir K. Ballas, MD; (Eliza)Beth Apter, RN
Cardeza Foundation Thomas Jefferson University Hospital Blood Bank Philadelphia

JAMA. 1985;253(3):345.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.—

The practice of removing blood products from donors or patients is formally referred to as apheresis, or aphaeresis.¹ Occasionally, the suffic -phoresis may be confused with apheresis. -Phoresis means being carried, as in electrophoresis, and should not be used to mean removal. The purpose of this letter is to elucidate the etymology of the word apheresis and suggest a modified term for usage.

The word aphaeresis is etymologically adopted from two Greek words: apo, which means away, and hairein, which means to take. Thus, aphairein, in Greek, means to take away, and aphaeresis, in Greek and Latin, means the taking away or removal.² Originally, aphaeresis was some kind of a phonetic process that happened over a long period. It meant the gradual and unintentional taking away or suppression of a letter or syllable at the beginning of a word. Thus, according to this process, esquire . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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