Finally: A Patient Reported Experience Measure for Home Dialysis

The Home Dialysis Care Experience survey is a new 26-item experience measure with one composite scale and two global rating scores, derived from 1,372 patients who use PD or home HD at 30 U.S. clinics. The measure was tested for floor and ceiling effects and test-retest reliability. Of the group, 495 patients completed at least one survey.

Read the abstract » | (added 2024-02-07)

Tags: Home Dialysis Care Experience Survey, Patient Reported Experience Measure

A New, Miniaturized Ultrafiltration System

Collaboration between cardiologists and nephrologists may be key to developing a treatment that can help heart and kidney patients. This article describes extracorporeal ultrafiltration and steps in development of Artificial Diuresis (AD1), a new miniaturized system for ultrafiltration.

Read the abstract » | (added 2024-02-07)

Tags: Artificial Diuresis, Extracorporeal Ultrafiltration, Fluid Overload, Heart Failure, Miniaturization, Portable, Wearable

Update on Pregnancy in Home Dialysis Patients

For women with CKD, pregnancy may be a goal, but their fertility window is limited and they may not have time to wait for a transplant. Pregnancy rates on dialysis are low, and the pregnancies are high risk—but this may be changing. Intensive HD that improve fertility and live birth rates, with longer gestation and higher birth weights are another option for women on dialysis who want children. Learn principles and practical management of dialysis pregnancies, as well as patient experiences.

Read the abstract » | (added 2024-02-07)

Tags: Pregnancy, Dialysis Pregnancies, Home Dialysis, Fertility, Live Birth Rates

Short Daily HD, Muscle Strength, and Bone Health

A cross-sectional study compared a variety of parameters between 86 conventional HD patients and 92 short daily HD patients. The short daily HD patients had significantly higher serum albumin levels, Kt/V, and bone mineral density, required significantly fewer ESAs, and had lower phosphorus, inflammation, and PTH levels than conventional HD patients. Short daily HD patients also had significantly higher scores on the 6-minute walking test, stronger hand grips, lower fasting blood sugars, and higher hemoglobin levels.

Read the abstract » | (added 2024-02-07)

Tags: Bone Mineral Density, Conventional Haemodialysis, End stage Kidney Disease, Inflammation, Muscle Function, Short daily Haemodialysis

Cardiovascular Outcomes Compared in PD vs. Home HD

Data from almost 69,000 patients in the USRDS who started PD or home HD to assess for rates of hospitalizations due to incident cardiovascular events (acute coronary syndrome, heart failure, stroke). While the unadjusted rate of cardiovascular events was higher in home HD than PD patients, the adjusted rates were lower for stroke and acute coronary syndrome. There was no difference in heart failure risk, but home HD was linked with a 22% lower adjusted risk of cardiovascular death.

Read the abstract » | (added 2024-02-07)

Tags: USRDS, PD, Home HD, Hospitalization Rate, Incident Cardiovascular Events

Is Wearable HD Moving Forward?

A review article contends that wearable kidney replacement will “radically reshape the landscape of kidney replacement therapies and have the potential to dramatically improve the lives of individuals living with kidney failure.” Great, but when?

Read the abstract » | (added 2024-01-17)

Tags: Wearable Kidney Replacement, Kidney Replacement Therapies, Quality Of Life

Progression of Brain Atrophy in PD vs. HD

A follow-up study of brain atrophy progression followed 73 PD and 34 HD patients who had brain MRIs, including 42 PD and 25 HD patients who had a second brain MRI. Brain grey matter volume measurement demonstrated faster progression of brain atrophy in PD than in HD, independent of potential confounders.

Read the abstract » | (added 2024-01-17)

Tags: Brain Atrophy, PD, HD

Among Prediabetic Patients, PD Nearly Tripled the Risk of New Onset Diabetes vs. HS

A retrospective cohort study was done of 1426 non-diabetic end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients who started PD or in-center HD. Over a 12 year period, 23% of the patients developed NODM. Among patients with prediabetes, those on PD had a 2.93 times higher risk of NODM than those on HD (p <0.001).

Read the abstract » | (added 2024-01-17)

Tags: ESRD, PD, In center HD, NODM, New Onset Diabetes Mellitus

Patient Training and Safety with Home HD

Despite the paramount importance of safety with home HD, there is “a surprising lack of literature” about it and no consensus on optimal training techniques or schedules, contend the authors of a new study.

Read the abstract » | (added 2024-01-17)

Tags: Home HD, Training Techniques, Home HD Training Schedules

Mechanical Complications of PD

Learn from a review of mechanical PD complications, including leaks, hernias, dialysate flow issues, pain, and changes in breathing. Most of these happen early, due to catheter placement or dialysate filling, though late complications can also occur.

Read the abstract » | (added 2024-01-17)

Tags: Mechanical PD Complications, Catheter Placement, Dialysate Filling