BACKGROUND Infection is second only to cardiovascular disease as a cause of death in the haemodialysis (HD) population. AIM : To assess the effect of introducing catheter lock solution taurolidine-citrate-heparin to all tunnelled central venous catheters (TCVCs) on staphylococcal bloodstream infection rates in patients on chronic HD. DESIGN Observational, prospective analysis of the inciden...

BACKGROUND In patients on chronic haemodialysis, because of a non-specific increase in serum ferritin, iron deficiency may be overlooked leading to failure of erythropoietin treatment. A reticulocyte haemglobin content < 26 pg and a percentage of hypochromic red cells > 2.5 have been proposed as markers of iron-deficient erythropoiesis in such subjects, but it is unclear which parameter is supe...

BACKGROUND Few studies have quantified the effect of hypertension on survival in the haemodialysis (HD) population. We have previously reported lack of adverse effect of hypertension on 1-year mortality in a cohort of 649 haemodialysis patients (Am J Kidney Dis 1996; 28: 737-744). We report here the effect of hypertension on 2-year survival in the same cohort of patients. METHODS We reviewed ...

Sodium mass balance is primarily dependent on two factors: dietary salt intake and sodium removal during haemodialysis (HD). Salt intake during the interdialysis period is dependent on patient behaviour and is a strong driver of volume overload [1]. The average American consumes ∼149 mmol/day [2]; most Western societies consume between 150 and 250 mmol/day [3]. There is evidence that HD patient...

BACKGROUND Failure to achieve isonatric haemodialysis (HD) drives an expansion of extracellular volume leading to increased interdialytic weight gain (IDWG). This may be a causative factor in the development of HD-induced cardiac injury. We examined total and diffusive sodium mass balance during HD. METHODS 24 chronic HD patients using a fixed 140 mmol/l sodium concentration were studied over...

BACKGROUND Since the predictive value of orthostatic hypotension (OH) at the introductory phase of haemodialysis (HD) is unknown, we examined the association between OH and all-cause death in patients who started HD between 1987 and 2001. METHODS More than three consecutive blood pressure measurements before HD treatments (pre-HD BP) were made on each of 304 patients who had recently been sta...

BACKGROUND Haemodialysis (HD) and peritoneal dialysis (PD) should be regarded as complementary methods of renal replacement therapy. Approximately 10-20% of patients on PD are transferred annually to HD due to technique failure. Much smaller proportion of patients changes modality from HD to PD, predominantly due to vascular access problems, cardiac disease or patient preference. The effects of...

BACKGROUND Abnormalities of vascular function and accumulation of oxidative stress have been associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Dialysis modalities, peritoneal dialysis (PD) and haemodialysis (HD) may differentially impact on vascular function and oxidative stress. METHODS Patients undergoing living donor transplantation were studied for vascular stiffness using pulse wave velocity...

During haemodialysis (HD), platelets (PLTs) are activated and release granule contents. As HD treatment occurs three times a week, it has been demonstrated that PLTs are exhausted due to the repetitive character of the treatment. To identify PLT depletion morphologically, PLT evaluation was performed by light microscopy and electron microscopy (EM) in a chronic HD subject and a healthy referenc...

Patients with mild-to-chronic kidney disease (CKD) exhibit a variety of haemostatic disorders, ranging from an increased clotting tendency and reductions in the levels of natural inhibitors of coagulation to defective fibrinolysis. In addition, platelet (PLT) abnormalities are common. In this minireview, we report on aspects of haemodialysis (HD)-induced PLT activation. It is demonstrated that ...