More Inflammation With Standard HD Than With PD

Inflammation can lead to heart damage and poor outcomes. Two 3-month prospective studies with 228 HD and 80 PD patients measured two markers of inflammation: CRP and IL-6. In HD patients, these levels were both higher and more variable than in PD.

Read the abstract » | (added 2016-06-08)

Tags: Hemodialysis

Glycated Albumin More Accurate in PD than Glycated Hemoglobin

Using hemoglobin A1c levels to assess glycemic control in people with diabetes using PD is risky, because anemia causes false negative results. In a 6-month study, 20 people with diabetes using HD were matched for age, sex, and post-meal glucose levels with people with diabetes using PD. In a multiple regression analysis, glycated albumin was the only independent predictor of plasma glucose levels.

Read the abstract » | (added 2016-05-12)

Tags: Hemodialysis

Starting PD with Three Exchanges

Are four PD exchanges magical? Or could new patients thrive with three exchanges per day, at least for a while? In a new study, 46 incident PD patients began treatment with three exchanges. During the 2 years of the study, 25% received a kidney transplant. Most were able to use three exchanges for a mean of 24 months before needing a fourth, and there was less loss of residual kidney function than in the predialysis period prior.

Read the abstract » | (added 2016-05-12)

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Metaanalysis of Patient Education and Choice of PD

An analysis of 15 studies (including one randomized controlled trial and 9 observational studies) found that patient-targeted education tripled the odds that patients would intend to use PD as a first treatment option.

Read the abstract » | (added 2016-05-12)

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Kt/V Urea Should NOT Be Used as an Adequacy Measure for PD

Since the National Cooperative Dialysis Study, PD adequacy attention has focused on urea clearance, rather than on the more important benefit of middle molecule clearance. In this opinion piece, Dr. Joanne Bargman asserts that the PD community “made a mistake” adopting urea kinetics to the peritoneal dialysis process,” an error that continues to this day despite the lack of evidence linking Kt/V to outcomes in PD patients.

Read the abstract » | (added 2016-05-12)

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Preliminary Data for the VasQ™ Fistula Construction Tool

A new Israeli device (available in three sizes) has been tested in 20 patients as a way to improve fistula flow and reduce hyperplasia at the anastomosis to reduce primary fistula failure. Primary patency was assessed at 1, 3, and 6 months, and there were no device-related adverse events. At the end of the study 14 of the 15 patients who required dialysis had a working fistula.

Read the abstract » | (added 2016-05-12)

Tags: Hemodialysis

Survival on PD is Better with Normal Magnesium Levels

A retrospective study of 253 incident PD patients followed for up to 10 years found that deaths due to cardiovascular causes (58.3%) were linked with low serum magnesium levels. Low serum albumin, and levels of triglycerides, potassium, calcium, and phosphate were also important. Those in the group with the lowest magnesium had significantly higher all-cause mortality (p<0.001).

Read the abstract » | (added 2016-04-12)

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PD Catheter Placement: Does Timing Matter?

Do patients who are able to wait 14 days before using a PD catheter have less peritonitis than those who use it sooner? Can they do PD longer? Do they live longer? There were no significant differences in any of these parameters, finds a new observational study of 149 patients, 80 early and 69 delayed. (NOTE: This is good news for early start PD.)

Read the abstract » | (added 2016-04-12)

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Milk Thistle Extract Improved Hemoglobin and Albumin in PD

Silymarin is an antioxidant. Among 50 people on PD randomly assigned to take silymarin (n=28) or a control (n=22) for 2 months, those who took the supplement three times a day had significantly higher antioxidant levels. They also had significant increases in hemoglobin and albumin levels at the p<0.05 level. (NOTE: Always inform a nephrologist of any supplement use.)

Read the abstract » | (added 2016-04-12)

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Urea Alone is Not a Good Index of Dialysis Dose

All-cause mortality in the HEMO study was not significantly related to removal of small solutes in short, intermittent, standard HD. “Failure to achieve greater reductions in solute levels may explain the failure of high Kt/V urea treatment to improve outcomes,” the authors note. (Yet another reanalysis of the HEMO study data has confirmed the obvious…)

Read the abstract » | (added 2016-04-12)

Tags: Hemodialysis