Death Risk Is Lower With Peritoneal Dialysis

ORLANDO, Fla.—Compared with incident hemodialysis (HD) patients, incident peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients, especially non-diabetics, show a robust and consistent survival advantage for up to five years, researchers reported here at the National Kidney Foundation’s 2010 Spring Clinical Meetings.

Rajnish Mehrotra, MD, and Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh, MD, PhD, MPH, of the Harold Simmons Center, Harbor-UCLA, Torrance, Calif., and colleagues compared the death risk of PD versus HD in 9,277 DaVita patients over five years (July 2001 through June 2006) after a 1:1 matching by propensity score.

Among non-diabetic patients, PD patients aged 60 years and younger had an approximately 40% decrease in five-year mortality risk compared with HD patients. Non-diabetic PD patients older than 60 had a 35% reduced risk. Diabetic PD patients had a 20% decrease in first-year mortality risk regardless of age.

From the May 01, 2010 Issue of Renal and Urology News