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Most patients with end-stage renal disease depend on intermittent hemodialysis to maintain levels of serum potassium and other electrolytes within a normal range. However, one of the challenges has been the safety of using a low-potassium dialysate to achieve that goal, given the concern about the effects that rapid and/or large changes in serum potassium concentrations may have on cardiac electrophysiology and arrhythmia. Additionally, in this patient population, there is a high prevalence of structural cardiac changes and ischemic heart disease, making them even more susceptible to acute arrhythmogenic triggers. This concern is highlighted by the knowledge that about two-thirds of all cardiac deaths in dialysis are due to sudden cardiac death and that sudden cardiac death accounts for 25% of the overall death for end-stage renal disease. Developing new approaches and practice standards for potassium removal during dialysis, as well as understanding other modifiable triggers of sudden cardiac death, such as other electrolyte components of the dialysate (magnesium and calcium), rapid ultrafiltration rates, and safety of a number of medications (ie, drugs that prolong the QT interval or use of digoxin), are critical in order to decrease the unacceptably high cardiac mortality experienced by hemodialysis-dependent patients.

Patterns of early outcomes in peritoneal dialysis (PD) are not well studied and dialysis providers need to establish a baseline of key outcomes for continuous quality improvement initiatives.

This review examines recent advances in understanding of how clinical outcomes for hemodialysis patients may be improved by achieving longer or more frequent treatment times, lower ultrafiltration rates (UFRs), improving nutritional status, and individualizing dialysate composition. This review also discusses the controversy related to timing of dialysis initiation.

Hemodialysis (HD) access is considered a critical and actionable determinant of morbidity, with a growing literature suggesting that initial HD access type is an important marker of long-term outcomes. Accordingly, we examined HD access during the incident dialysis period, focusing on infection risk and successful fistula creation during the first dialysis year.

Insufficient clinical data exist to determine whether provision of oral nutritional supplements during dialysis can improve survival in hypoalbuminemic maintenance hemodialysis patients.

Patients' education about transplant, hemodialysis (HD), peritoneal dialysis (PD), and conservative care often is provided by nephrologists as needed and occurs as time allows.

We examined the protein anabolic effects of Pro-Stat 64, a high nitrogen-containing, enzyme-hydrolyzed, tryptophan-fortified, collagen protein supplement administrated during hemodialysis, at two different dosing regimens.

There is increasing recognition of the high morbidity and mortality rate that is associated with initiation of chronic dialysis. The present review examines the recent literature that has addressed this topic.

Our objective was to estimate the effect of an improvement in nutrition, represented by albumin concentrations, on hospitalization, mortality, and Medicare end-stage renal disease (ESRD) program cost.

Oxidative stress has been described as ‘a disturbance in the prooxidant-antioxidant balance in favor of the former, leading to potential damage. In uremic patients, an increase in oxidative stress may occur because of the loss of residual renal function, and may be exacerbated by dialysis. This review will focus on the emerging biochemical evidence of an increase in oxidative stress in uremic patients, the relationship with renal replacement therapy, and the potential linkages to acute-phase inflammation, malnutrition, and adverse cardiovascular outcomes in uremic patients.

Background:Protein-calorie malnutrition is highly prevalent in patients with chronic renal failure and on chronic dialysis therapy. Longitudinal studies evaluating nutritional outcomes after the initiation of chronic dialysis therapy in incident dialysis patients are limited. Methods:This prospective cohort study evaluated time-dependent changes in several well-defined markers of nutritional status before and after initiation of chronic hemodialysis therapy. Fifty incident hemodialysis (HD) patients (60% men, 38% white, 32% with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus) were studied. Multiple nutritional markers, including biochemical parameters and analysis of body composition, were assessed before the initial outpatient CHD treatment and every 3 months thereafter for 12 months. Results:At baseline, nutritional markers correlated well with each other. After the initiation of HD therapy, there were marked improvements in most nutritional parameters, including serum albumin, serum prealbumin, normalized protein catabolic rate, fat mass, reactance, and phase angle (P< 0.05 for all). Improvements in nutritional parameters were influenced by baseline nutritional status; ie, baseline nutritional parameters were predictors of their end-of-study value. Conclusion:Initiation of CHD therapy is associated with improvements in most nutritional markers. Nutritional benefits of increased solute clearance provided by the initiation of chronic dialysis therapy prevail over its potential catabolic effects. However, the extent of improvement was dependent on nutritional status at the time of initiation of dialysis therapy, which remained an important determinant of subsequent nutritional improvements during the first year of treatment. © 2002 by the National Kidney Foundation, Inc.

Objective:The objective of this study is to determine the impact of recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) on metabolic and nutritional parameters in malnourished patients with acute renal failure. Design:The design is an open-labeled pilot trial examining the effects of rhGH administration in a small group of highly catabolic, malnourished patients with acute renal failure. Each patient served as his or her own control. Setting:An intensive care unit in a tertiary care medical institution. Patients:Five patients with established acute renal failure in a critical care unit. Entry criteria included clinical evidence of malnutrition: a serum albumin level of <3.2 g/dL, a prealbumin level of = 20 mg/dL, and an insulin-like growth factor IGF 1 level <200 ng/mL. The study consisted of 3 periods: phase I, 3 day baseline; phase II, 6 day treatment; and phase III, 3 day washout. During the entire study, blood and urine samples were obtained daily to calculate normalized protein catabolic rate, total nitrogen appearance rate (TNA), and nitrogen balance. Additional data were collected to measure metabolic and inflammatory parameters. Intervention:The intervention consisted of administering 100 µg/kg/d of rhGH for 6 days. Results:There were significant changes in TNA, normalized protein catabolic rate, and nitrogen balance during the 3 study phases. TNA decreased from 43.3 ± 24.4 g/d in phase I, to 25.2 ± 16.5 g/d during phase II (P< .001). There was a further decrease in TNA to 16.2 ± 8.3 g/d during phase III (P< .001 vphase I). Nitrogen balance improved from - 31.8 ± 21.4 g/d during phase I, to - 12.9 ± 10.3 g/d during phase II (P< .001), and further improved to - 4.1 ± 4.0 g/d in phase III (P< .001 vphase I). Significant changes were also noted in levels of blood urea nitrogen, phosphorous, serum growth hormone, IGF-1, and serum leptin levels after growth hormone administration. A statistically significant increase in serum albumin was noted in phase III (3.1 g/dL) versus phase I (2.7 ± 0.7 g/dL). Conclusions:Administration of rhGH to critically ill patients with acute renal failure resulted in improvements in negative nitrogen balance and a significant decrease in total nitrogen appearance rate. These changes corresponded to increases in serum growth hormone, IGF-1, IGF-1 binding protein 3, and leptin levels after growth hormone administration. © 2001 by the National Kidney Foundation, Inc.

Hemodialysis vascular access failure represents a major source of morbidity and mortality in chronic hemodialysis (CHD) patients. Serial vascular access blood flow (VABF) measurements are being used as a screening method at an increasing rate. There are limited data on the changes in VABF throughout the hemodialysis session, which may potentially affect the validity of VABF measurement. This study is performed to evaluate the trend in VABF during a given hemodialysis session by serial VABF measurements, along with potential factors that may affect VABF. Thirty-two CHD patients had serial VABF measurements performed during a hemodialysis session. Each patient had three serial VABF measurements during a hemodiaysis treatment (within 30, 90, and 150 minutes from the start of hemodialysis). Mean arterial blood pressure (MAP), ultrafiltration rate, and patient symptoms were recorded simultaneously. The mean VABF was 1,344 ± 486 mL/min within 30 minutes of hemodialysis and decreased to 1,308 ± 532 and 1,250 ± 552 mL/min after 90 and 150 minutes, respectively. This trend was statistically significant (P= 0.03). There was a strong correlation between VABF measurements and MAP, which was more pronounced after 90 minutes of initiation of hemodialysis (r= 0.68; P< 0.001). Using multivariate analysis, it can be predicted that after 90 minutes of hemodialysis, each 10% decrease in MAP would result in an expected decrease of 8% in VABF. There was no effect of type of vascular access, baseline VABF, or amount of ultrafiltration on VABF changes. In conclusion, VABF measurements can be performed up to 2 to 2½ hours from the start of hemodialysis in the majority of patients. The major determinant of VABF changes is MAP. In a subset of patients with a decrease MAP greater than 15%, it is advisable to perform VABF measurement either at the first 90 minutes of hemodialysis or postpone it to another treatment session, when MAP is more stable.

Background/Aims:Hemodialysis (HD) patients are hospitalized more frequently than patients with other chronic diseases, averaging 11.5 hospital days/patient/year. Hospital costs attributable to renal failure in the US exceed $2 billion per year. The present healthcare climate continues to force dialysis providers to focus on these issues in order to optimize patient care while limiting cost. Methods:We used a novel method for analyzing hospitalization risk, a multiple-event Cox proportional hazards model, to identify factors that influenced hospitalization in a HD unit population over a two-year period. This model allows individual patients to contribute multiple failure events to the model while controlling for the serial dependency of events. Results:178 HD patients were retrospectively examined. There were 381 hospitalizations during the study period, averaging out to 1.9 hospitalizations and 10.5 hospital days/patient-year. Substance abuse and diabetes conveyed the largest risks for hospitalization (diabetes RR: 2.09; substance abuse RR: 2.24) in the study cohort, exposing the necessity for examining practice patterns and behavioral interventions as means for improving HD patient care. Conclusion:Despite the small numbers of patients in this single-center HD population, the model achieved adequate statistical power. Therefore, it has the potential to serve as a continuous quality improvement (CQI) tool in particular HD patient sub-groups, or in individual HD units.

New revised policies relating to intradialytic parenteral nutrition (IDPN) reimbursement by Medicare have made it difficult, if not impossible, to qualify malnourished hemodialysis patients for this potentially useful therapy. These policies were adopted by Medicare because of a lack of studies that provide clear documentation of the medical benefits of IDPN or their cost-effectiveness. We propose a limited study of the role of IDPN with and without anabolic growth factors to improve predefined nutritional parameters and document its cost-effectiveness by monitoring hospitalization and mortality. The proposed study will be multicenter, prospective, limited to severely malnourished patients, and will include a control group that would receive standard of care.

A number of studies have suggested that type of dialysis membrane is associated with differences in long-term outcome of patients undergoing hemodialysis, both in terms of morbidity and mortality. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship of membrane type and specific causes of death. Data from the United States Renal Data System Case Mix Adequacy Study, a national random sample of hemodialysis patients who were alive on December 31, 1990, were used. Our study was limited to patients in this data set who were undergoing dialysis for at least 1 year (n = 4,055). For the main analytic models, membrane type was classified into two categories: unmodified cellulose or MC/SYN (which combines modified cellulose [MC] and synthetic membranes [SYN]). The relationships of membrane type and major causes of mortality were analyzed using Cox proportional hazards models, which adjusted for multiple (21) covariates, including demographics, comorbidity, Kt/V, and other parameters. Patients were censored at transplantation or 60 days after a switch to peritoneal dialysis. Compared with patients dialyzed with unmodified cellulose membranes, the adjusted relative mortality risk (RR) from infection was 31% lower (RR = 0.69; P= 0.03) and from coronary artery disease was 26% lower (RR = 0.74; P= 0.07) for patients dialyzed with MC/SYN membranes. No statistically significant difference (all P0.1) was found in mortality risk from cerebrovascular disease (RR = 1.08), other cardiac causes (RR = 0.86), malignancy (RR = 0.90), or other known causes (RR = 0.82) between patients dialyzed with MC/SYN compared with unmodified cellulose membranes. These results offer support to reported experimental and observational clinical studies that have found that unmodified cellulose membranes may increase the risk for both infection and atherogenesis. Further studies are necessary to evaluate the possibility of confounding factors, compare more specific membrane types, and determine the pathophysiology linking membrane type to cause-specific mortality.

It is clear that malnutrition is common in chronic dialysis patients and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Evidence is accumulating that several measures can be taken to improve the nutritional status of these patients. An early start of dialysis, an increase in dialysis dose, the use of biocompatible membranes or dialysis solutions, and intensive nutritional counseling should be applied when necessary. If these measures fail, additional interventions, such as parenteral or enteral nutritional supplements, rhGH, and rhIGF -1, alone or in combination, should be tried.

• Patients undergoing chronic hemodialysis receive multiple blood transfusions and, thus, are susceptible to infections transmitted through blood and blood products, including infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). To determine the prevalence of antibody to HIV among patients undergoing chronic hemodialysis in Baltimore and Boston in 1985, we conducted a cross-sectional seroprevalence study. Repeatedly enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)—positive serum samples were tested by Western blot analysis. Among 435 patients in Baltimore, 12 (2.8%) were seropositive by both ELISA and Western blot techniques. Among 90 patients In Boston, three (3.3%) were seropositive. Among 100 frozen serum samples obtained from another Boston hemodialysis population In 1980, only one was seropositive. Many repeatedly ELISA-positive specimens were observed in each of the three groups studied, especially the serum samples that had been stored at -30°C to -70°C for four years. Most were nonspecifically reactive as demonstrated by reactivity with an H9-control ELISA plate. Patients undergoing hemodialysis, many of whom have received frequent transfusions in the past, are at increased risk for prior infection with HIV. Serologic testing for either screening or case-finding purposes must be conducted with great attention to specificity; serum samples frozen for prolonged periods are especially likely to be nonspecifically ELISA positive. These findings have implications concerning case-finding purposes, dialysis procedures, renal transplantation, and seroepidemiologic research.(Arch Intern Med 1988;148:617-619)

Use of intradialytic oral nutritional supplements (ONS) improve nutritional biomarkers but an association with hospitalization risk is unexplored. We evaluated hospitalization events from all causes (HOS), comparing patients with serum albumin ≤3.5 g/dL who received monitored ONS (at no patient cost) during chronic outpatient hemodialysis (HD) as part of a standardized national program in Fresenius Medical Care, North America facilities, with eligible patients who did not receive ONS (controls). Study enrolment covered Q4‐2009 and follow‐up was until 12/31/10. Patients who received ONS outside of the program or started during 2010 were excluded. Two protein bars and two liquid formulations of ONS options were offered – – which were available until albumin was ≥ 4.0 g/dL.

Use of intradialytic oral nutritional supplements (ONS) improve nutritional biomarkers but an association with survival has not been proven. We evaluated mortality, comparing patients with serum albumin ≤3.5 g/dL who received monitored ONS (at no patient cost) during chronic outpatient hemodialysis (HD) as part of a standardized national program in Fresenius Medical Care, North America facilities, with eligible patients who did not receive ONS (controls). Participation was promoted but not mandatory. Study enrolment covered Q4‐2009 and follow‐up was until 12/31/10. Patients who received ONS outside of the program or started during 2010 were excluded. Two protein bars and two liquid formulations of ONS options were offered, which were available until albumin was ≥ 4.0 g/dL.