Journal Watch

  • Converting In-center HD Patients to Home: the Importance of Belief

    A small, cross-sectional study (n=44) interviewed patients who were and were not considering home HD. Only 68% of patients said they’d heard about the benefits of home HD. The cohort who were willing to consider it were significantly more likely to believe that self-care and home HD would improve their quality of life, particularly travel, better health outcomes, and the comfort of being at home.

    Read the abstract » | (added 2020-09-11)

    Tags: Home Hemodialysis, Hemodialysis, Homedialysis, HD

  • PD vs. Standard HD for Cognitive Function

    A metaanalysis of papers including 195,774 patients looked at whether PD or standard in-center HD better supported cognitive function. The authors found significantly less risk of cognitive impairment among those who did PD.

    Read the abstract » | (added 2020-09-11)

    Tags: Cognitive, Renal Failure

  • International Use of PD

    Worldwide PD use is approximately 11%, which varies across the globe, finds a new survey of stakeholders in 182 countries (with 313 respondents from 160 countries). Median PD use was 38.1 per million. Thirty countries, mainly low-income, did not offer PD, while in 69% of countries, PD was the first modality for <10% of incident patients. The range of PD costs passed on to patients was 1-25%, with higher co-pays in South Asia and low-income countries. Patient-reported PD outcomes were rarely measured.

    Read the abstract » | (added 2020-09-11)

    Tags: Epidemiology, Kidney Failure, Peritoneal Dialysis

  • International Use of HD—Including Home HD

    A new survey of stakeholders in 182 countries (with respondents from 160 countries) found a use rate for HD of 298.4 per million. Among incident dialysis patients, the HD rate was 98.0. Standard in-center HD was available among 27% of low-income countries (and these patients paid more of the costs); home HD was available in 36% of high-income countries. Monitoring of patient-reported outcomes was done in 61% of countries, while 60% monitored bone minerals and patient survival, and 51% monitored technique survival. Just 5% of countries initiated patients on HD with arteriovenous access.

    Read the abstract » | (added 2020-09-11)

    Tags: Hemodialysis, Homedialysis, HD

  • Home HD Respite Care Resource Implications

    A Canadian analysis of 119 home HD patients found that 66% required 292 back-up, in-center HD sessions during 96 patient years; 53% for vascular access issues.

    Read the abstract » | (added 2020-08-11)

    Tags: Home Hemodialysis, Resource Utilization, Technique Survival

  • How Much Dialysate Should be Used for Nocturnal HD With NxStage?

    Predictive modeling finds that the dialysate lactate concentration used for short daily HD may not be appropriate for nocturnal HD. Since the effect of lactate mainly depends on weekly dialysate volume, reducing from 60 to 30 liters for frequent nocturnal HD may be appropriate.

    Read the abstract » | (added 2020-08-11)

    Tags: Home Hemodialysis, Lactate, Acid Generation, Dialysate

  • Quanta SC+ Fluid Removal Accuracy

    Through both passive and active fluid control mechanisms, the Quanta SC+ home HD machine was accurate to within 1 mL per hour for flow balance and to within 13 mL/hr for ultrafiltration.

    Read the abstract » | (added 2020-08-11)

    Tags: Home Hemodialysis, Fluid Management, Flow Balance

  • C-reactive Protein to Albumin Ratio (CAR) on PD Predicts Survival

    An analysis of 758 PD patients observed for up to 12 years found that those whose CAR was lower were significantly more likely to survive than those whose CAR was higher.

    Read the abstract » | (added 2020-08-11)

    Tags: Serum C reactive Protein To Albumin Ratio, Serum C reactive Protein, PD, Peritoneal Dialysis

  • Serum Uric Acid and Residual Kidney Function in PD

    In a study of 201 CAPD patients followed for up to 8 years (median 23.43+ 16.6 months), high or low serum uric acid and peritonitis were independent risk factors for loss of all residual kidney function. Higher weekly Kt/V urea helped protect residual function.

    Read the abstract » | (added 2020-08-11)

    Tags: Residual Renal Function, Uric Acid

  • Carnitine Deficiency and ESA Resistance in PD

    Among 60 PD patients, 56 had carnitine deficiency, which was found to independently predict ESA resistance.

    Read the abstract » | (added 2020-08-11)

    Tags: Carnitine Deficiency, Peritoneal Dialysis, Erythropoietin Resistance Index