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Remote patient management (RPM) has been increasingly implemented in the care of chronic patients in the last decades with significant positive impact on clinical outcomes. Home-based dialysis therapies constitute an attractive alternative to in-center hemodialysis as they offer patients more flexibility and empowerment. Nonetheless, their remote nature and intrinsic problematic visibility to therapy-related issues occurring at home contribute to holding back both patients and nephrologists from adopting them. RPM has recently become available in automated peritoneal dialysis (APD) by means of a new cloud-based platform with a 2-way communication system (Sharesource), offering accurate daily monitoring of the therapy as well as ability to remotely alter the prescription. Its main documented advantage is the early identification of clinically relevant issues such as catheter dysfunction and non-adherence to prescribed PD therapy; its contribution to recognition of an imminent peritonitis has still to be evaluated. RPM is also of particular interest for patients with social, geographical or physical limitations in terms of travel reduction. Moreover, permanent access to data for PD teams may provide reassurance and alleviate anxiety generated by the remote nature of the method for both patients and nephrologists. Finally, RPM offers further advantages such as a more personalized APD prescription, tailored to patients' needs, as well as improved clinical follow-up and a more proactive care. Long-term impacts of RPM in PD on patients' outcomes, healthcare costs, and its potential influence on a greater take-up of the technique, notably through reinforced confidence for both patients and nephrologists through better visibility of the progress of the therapy, have still to be evaluated. Given the positive impact of PD on the preservation of residual renal function and association of the latter with better survival, any tool that may contribute to its broader use is most valuable.

In the last decades, remote patient management (RPM) has been of growing interest in medical fields. In this article we describe the clinical implications of the implementation of a newly available automated peritoneal dialysis (APD) RPM system with cloud-based connectivity. This system provides data sent from the cycler about the course of the peritoneal dialysis (PD) therapy, offering the medical team the opportunity to analyse them on an everyday basis and subsequently remotely alter PD prescription.The main advantages discussed here are sparing of long or difficult travels, especially for patients with social, geographical or physical limitations, early identification and management of occurring issues such as catheter dysfunction or non-adherence to prescribed PD therapy, a potential clue to an imminent peritonitis, and finally a more personalized APD prescription. Further impacts of the implementation of RPM in peritoneal dialysis on patients outcomes, health costs and its potential influence on a greater take-on rate of the technique have still to be evaluated

Remote patient management (RPM) has the potential to help clinicians detect early issues, allowing intervention prior to development of more significant problems. A 23-year-old end-stage kidney disease patient required urgent start of renal replacement therapy. A newly available automated peritoneal dialysis (APD) RPM system with cloud-based connectivity was implemented in her care. Pre-defined RPM threshold parameters were set to identify clinically relevant issues. Red flag dashboard alerts heralded prolonged drain times leading to clinical evaluation with subsequent diagnosis of and surgical repositioning for catheter displacement, although it took several days for newly-RPM-exposed staff to recognize this issue. Post-PD catheter repositioning, drain times were again normal as indicated by disappearance of flag alerts and unremarkable cycle volume profiles. Identification of < 90% adherence to prescribed PD therapy was then documented with the RPM system, alerting the clinical staff to address this important issue given its association with significant negative clinical outcomes. Healthcare providers face a “learning curve” to effect optimal utilization of the RPM tool. Larger scale observational studies will determine the impact of RPM on APD technique survival and resource utilization.

The first treatment which slows the course of polycystic kidney disease is now available in Switzerland. There is no benefit of immunosuppression when treating IgA nephropathy. Rituximab has been proved effective in the treatment of membranous nephropathy. When to start renal replacement therapy in acute kidney injury ? The debate still continues. In selected patients with end-stage renal failure, starting with twice a week hemodialysis is a desirable option. Peritoneal dialysis can be considered in frail patients. Better being transplanted with a HLA-incompatible living donor than to be on the waiting list. Immunosuppression without a calcineurin inhibitor is a potential immunologic hazard even for stable transplants. Long-term results of belatacept-based immunosuppression instead of cyclosporin showed better graft and patient survival but more acute rejection.Un traitement qui ralentit la progression de la polykystose rénale arrive en Suisse. L’immunosuppression ne semble pas apporter de bénéfice dans la néphropathie à IgA. Le rituximab est efficace dans la glomérulonéphrite membraneuse. Quand débuter l’épuration extrarénale dans l’IRA ? Question toujours pas résolue. Chez certains patients avec IRC terminale, débuter l’hémodialyse par deux séances / semaine semble souhaitable. La dialyse péritonéale convient aussi à des patients âgés ou cirrhotiques. Mieux vaut recevoir le greffon d’un donneur vivant HLA-incompatible qu’être sur la liste d’attente. Difficile de se passer d’une immunosuppression sans un inhibiteur de la calcineurine. A sept ans, une immunosuppression avec bélatacept comparée avec la ciclosporine est associée avec une meilleure survie du greffon et du patient mais à plus de rejets aigus.

Peritoneal dialysis is a dialysis modality used worldwide. Despite offering several advantages, its prevalence in Switzerland in end stage renal disease population is dramatically lower than hemodialysis (7.3% vs 92.7% in 2014) although its incidence has recently progressed. Technically, a catheter is inserted into the Douglas' pouch, enabling dialysate to be infused into the peritoneal cavity. The peritoneum acts as a semi-permeable membrane allowing for the removal of toxic substances and excess water. In the following article we will give an overview of peritoneal dialysis including its technical modalities, indications and main advantages as well as its contraindications and complications.

Background Overhydration is a common problem in peritoneal dialysis patients and has been shown to be associated with mortality. However, it still remains unclear whether overhydration per se is predictive of mortality or whether it is mainly a reflection of underlying comorbidities. The purpose of our study was to assess overhydration in peritoneal dialysis patients using bioimpedance spectroscopy and to investigate whether overhydration is an independent predictor of mortality. Methods We analyzed and followed 54 peritoneal dialysis patients between June 2008 and December 2014. All patients underwent bioimpedance spectroscopy measurement once and were allocated to normohydrated and overhydrated groups. Overhydration was defined as an absolute overhydration/extracellular volume ratio > 15%. Simultaneously, clinical, echocardiographic and laboratory data were assessed. Heart failure was defined either on echocardiography, as a reduced left ventricular ejection fraction, or clinically according to the New York Heart Association functional classification. Patient survival was documented up until December 31st 2014. Factors associated with mortality were identified and a multivariable Cox regression model was used to identify independent predictors of mortality. Results Apart from higher daily peritoneal ultrafiltration rate and cumulative diuretic dose in overhydrated patients, there were no significant differences between the 2 groups, in particular with respect to gender, body mass index, comorbidity and cardiac medication. Mortality was higher in overhydrated than in euvolemic patients. In the univariate analysis, increased age, overhydration, low diastolic blood pressure, raised troponin and NTproBNP, hypoalbuminemia, heart failure but not CRP were predictive of mortality. After adjustment, only overhydration, increased age and low diastolic blood pressure remained statistically significant in the multivariate analysis. Conclusions Overhydration remains an independent predictor of mortality even after adjustment for heart failure in peritoneal dialysis patients and should therefore be actively sought and managed in order to improve survival in this population.