Short Daily Hemodialysis Has Benefits

Short daily hemodialysis is associated with better survival than conventional thrice-weekly hemodialysis, researchers reported in Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation (2008; published online ahead of print).

Carl M. Kjellstrand, MD, of Loyola University in Chicago, and colleagues elsewhere in United States and in Italy and France, studied 415 patients treated with short daily hemodialysis for an average of 29 months. Eighty-five patients (20%) died.

Five- and 10-year cumulative survival rates were 68% and 42%, respectively, two to three times higher than the rates for thrice-weekly hemodialysis patients matched for age or diagnosis in the United States, based on 2005 data obtained from the U.S. Renal Data System.

Additionally, survival of patients who dialyzed at home was comparable to that of age-matched recipients of deceased donor renal transplants.

From the November 01, 2008 Issue of Renal and Urology News