Peritoneal dialysis

Abstract: We assessed the quality of life of 859 patients undergoing dialysis or transplantation, with the goal of ascertaining whether objective and subjective measures of the quality of life were influenced by case mix or treatment. We found that 79.1 per cent of the transplant recipients were able to function at nearly normal levels, as compared with between 47.5 and 59.1 per cent of the patients treated with dialysis (depending on the type). Nearly 75 per cent of the transplant recipients were able to work, as compared with between 24.7 and 59.3 per cent of the patients undergoing dialysis. On three subjective measures (life satisfaction, well-being, and psychological affect) transplant recipients had a higher quality of life than patients on dialysis. Among the patients treated with dialysis, those undergoing treatment at home had the highest quality of life. All quality-of-life differences were found to persist even after the patient case mix had been controlled statistically. Finally, the quality of life of transplant recipients compared well with that of the general population, but despite favorable subjective assessments, patients undergoing dialysis did not work or function at the same level as people in the general population.

Abstract: The risk of cardiovascular disease in patients with chronic renal disease appears to be far greater than in the general population. For example, among patients treated by hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis, the prevalence of coronary artery disease is approximately 40% and the prevalence of left ventricular hypertrophy is approximately 75%. Cardiovascular mortality has been estimated to be approximately 9% per year. Even after stratification by age, gender, race, and the presence or absence of diabetes, cardiovascular mortality in dialysis patients is 10 to 20 times higher than in the general population. Patients with chronic renal disease should be considered in the highest risk group for subsequent cardiovascular events. Cardiac failure is more common in chronic renal disease patients than in the general population, and is an independent predictor of death in chronic renal disease. Among hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis patients, the prevalence of cardiac failure is approximately 40%. Both coronary artery disease and left ventricular hypertrophy are risk factors for the development of cardiac failure. In practice, it is difficult to determine whether cardiac failure reflects left ventricular dysfunction or extracellular fluid volume overload. Patients who develop clinical manifestations of cardiac failure should be evaluated for cardiovascular disease.

Abstract: Small-solute clearance targets for peritoneal dialysis (PD) have been based on the tacit assumption that peritoneal and renal clearances are equivalent and therefore additive. Although several studies have established that patient survival is directly correlated with renal clearances, there have been no randomized, controlled, interventional trials examining the effects of increases in peritoneal small-solute clearances on patient survival. A prospective, randomized, controlled, clinical trial was performed to study the effects of increased peritoneal small-solute clearances on clinical outcomes among patients with end-stage renal disease who were being treated with PD. A total of 965 subjects were randomly assigned to the intervention or control group (in a 1:1 ratio). Subjects in the control group continued to receive their preexisting PD prescriptions, which consisted of four daily exchanges with 2 L of standard PD solution. The subjects in the intervention group were treated with a modified prescription, to achieve a peritoneal creatinine clearance (pCrCl) of 60 L/wk per 1.73 m(2). The primary endpoint was death. The minimal follow-up period was 2 yr. The study groups were similar with respect to demographic characteristics, causes of renal disease, prevalence of coexisting conditions, residual renal function, peritoneal clearances before intervention, hematocrit values, and multiple indicators of nutritional status. In the control group, peritoneal creatinine clearance (pCrCl) and peritoneal urea clearance (Kt/V) values remained constant for the duration of the study. In the intervention group, pCrCl and peritoneal Kt/V values predictably increased and remained separated from the values for the control group for the entire duration of the study (P < 0.01). Patient survival was similar for the control and intervention groups in an intent-to-treat analysis, with a relative risk of death (intervention/control) of 1.00 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.80 to 1.24]. Overall, the control group exhibited a 1-yr survival of 85.5% (CI, 82.2 to 88.7%) and a 2-yr survival of 68.3% (CI, 64.2 to 72.9%). Similarly, the intervention group exhibited a 1-yr survival of 83.9% (CI, 80.6 to 87.2%) and a 2-yr survival of 69.3% (CI, 65.1 to 73.6%). An as-treated analysis revealed similar results (overall relative risk = 0.93; CI, 0.71 to 1.22; P = 0.6121). Mortality rates for the two groups remained similar even after adjustment for factors known to be associated with survival for patients undergoing PD (e.g., age, diabetes mellitus, serum albumin levels, normalized protein equivalent of total nitrogen appearance, and anuria). This study provides evidence that increases in peritoneal small-solute clearances within the range studied have a neutral effect on patient survival, even when the groups are stratified according to a variety of factors (age, diabetes mellitus, serum albumin levels, normalized protein equivalent of total nitrogen appearance, and anuria) known to affect survival. No clear survival advantage was obtained with increases in peritoneal small-solute clearances within the range achieved in this study.

Abstract: Department of Medicine and Therapeutics,1 Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong; University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine,2 Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Faculdade de Enfermagem, Nutrição e Fisioterapia,3 Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil; Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences,4 Lucknow, India; Department of Nephrology,5 Princess Alexandra Hospital, and School of Medicine, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia; Department of Medical Microbiology,6 Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands; Centre for Kidney Diseases,7 Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre, Singapore; Section of Infectious Disease,8 Department of Internal Medicine, University of Missouri-Columbia School of Medicine, Columbia, MO, USA; Pediatric Nephrology Division,9 University Children’s Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany; Dianet Dialysis Centers,10 Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands