Journal Watch

  • U.S Nephrologists on When to Start Dialysis

    While clinical practice guidelines recommend starting dialysis mainly on signs and symptoms, almost half of 255 nephrologists surveyed relied solely on eGFR. For them, a level of 8.4 meant dialysis—even in the absence of symptoms.

    Read the abstract » | (added 2022-12-19)

    Tags: Medical Management, Dialysis Initiation, EGFR

  • Next Gen Sorbent Dialysis: Oral Sorbents with Carbon Block Columns?

    Innovator Steven Ash is reimagining sorbent, as regenerating dialysate is complex. He is testing an oral sorbent to bind potassium, sodium, hydrogen, and ammonium, in animals. Carbon block columns can then bind organic and middle molecule toxins, and Ash believes the two technologies could simplify dialysis.

    Read the abstract » | (added 2022-12-19)

    Tags: Oral Sorbent, Uremic Toxins, Carbon Block

  • Cycler vs. Manual PD for Survival

    A systematic review and meta-analysis looked at 17 studies of more than 230,000 people for PD failure and all-cause mortality with cycler vs. manual PD. Both options had equivalent PD technique failure. But, there was a significant survival advantage for automated cycler PD.

    Read the abstract » | (added 2022-12-19)

    Tags: Peritoneal Dialysis, PD, Modality, Automated Peritoneal Dialysis, APD, Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis, CAPD, All cause Mortality, ACM, PD Failure, Survival

  • A New PET Resource

    How and why are peritoneal equilibrium tests (PETs) done? What are the various iterations? What can be learned from the results? Find out in this new review.

    Read the abstract » | (added 2022-11-16)

    Tags: Peritoneal Equilibrium Tests, PETs

  • Nephrologist-owned Dialysis Clinics and Home Therapies

    A study of the USRDS data set looked at ownership of adult dialysis clinics in 2017 caring for 251,651 patients. Those in nephrologist-owned clinics had a 2.4% higher probably of home dialysis, a 2.2% lower probability of receiving an ESA, and no significant difference in anemia treatment.

    Read the abstract » | (added 2022-11-16)

    Tags: Nephrologist owned Clinics, Clinical Outcomes

  • Impact of a 1-hour Discussion on Choice of a Home Dialysis Option

    Of 620 incident dialysis patients in Japan from 2013 to 2021, 128 received a 1-hour discussion of treatment options. The discussion group had a tendency for fewer urgent hospitalizations—and had a significantly higher chance of choosing PD (30.7% vs. 9.4%).

    Read the abstract » | (added 2022-11-16)

    Tags: Patient Education, Dialysis Modality, Treatment Options

  • Which Modality is Better Between Transplants: PD or HD?

    Among 776 people in a registry who received a second kidney transplant, 656 did standard in-center hemodialysis (HD) between transplants, 72 did PD, and 48 went immediately to a second transplant. Those who did PD or went directly to a second transplant had better adjusted survival than those on HD.

    Read the abstract » | (added 2022-11-16)

    Tags: Second Kidney Transplant, Transitional Care

  • Urine Output on PD Predicts Solute Removal

    In an observational study of 93 people on CAPD (n=34) or APD (n=59) who still made urine, 24-hour urine collection correlated positively with removal of wastes + residual clearance. There was no significant difference between CAPD and APD.

    Read the abstract » | (added 2022-11-16)

    Tags: CAPD, APD, Urine

  • Extended HD and Nutrition

    An attempt to do a metaanalysis of the literature on the impact of daily and nocturnal HD (15+ hours per week) on nutritional status failed due to lack of sufficient high quality papers. In five studies of nocturnal and/or daily HD—three in-center and two at home—lean body mass improved significantly and one study found deficiency in water-soluble vitamins.

    Read the abstract » | (added 2022-11-16)

    Tags: Extended Hemodialysis, Nutrition, Lean Body Mass

  • The Predictive Value of Early, Non-infectious PD Complications

    A prospective, multicenter cohort study of 1,596 people starting PD in New Zealand from 2014 to 2018 (inclusive) looked at survival and time on PD of those who had catheter-related exit site dialysate leaks or other leaks within 30 days of PD start. Peritonitis-free survival, first PD catheter survival, and tunnel infection free survival were secondary outcomes. Among the 102 with an early complication, overall mortality, the rate of stopping PD, and first catheter failure were all higher.

    Read the abstract » | (added 2022-11-16)

    Tags: PD, Survival, Peritonitis free Survival, First PD Catheter Survival, Tunnel Infection Free Survival, Early Catheter related Complication