A New Cycler for Automated Peritoneal Dialysis to Provide Efficient Dialysis and Improved Sleep Quality.

INTRODUCTION: Automated peritoneal dialysis (APD) employs cyclers to control inflow and outflow of the dialysis fluid to the patient's abdomen. To allow more patients to use this modality, cyclers should support the achievement of an adequate dialysis dose and be easy to use, cost-effective, and silent. The new SILENCIA cycler (Fresenius Medical Care, Bad Homburg, Germany), designed to improve these characteristics in comparison to its predecessor device, was evaluated in this respect in a prospective study. METHODS: This cross-over study comprised two 2-week study periods, separated by a 3-week training phase. First, patients underwent APD with their current cycler (PD-NIGHT [Fresenius Medical Care, Bad Homburg, Germany] or HomeChoice Pro [Baxter, Deerfield, IL, USA] as control), followed by training on the SILENCIA cycler. Then, patients were switched to the SILENCIA cycler. During each treatment period, we collected data on total Kt/Vurea, ultrafiltration (UF) volume, patient-reported outcomes (sleep quality, among others), and device handling. RESULTS: Sixteen patients were enrolled; 2 patients terminated the study prematurely before study intervention, 1 patient due to a protocol violation. In 13 patients, total Kt/Vurea and UF could be evaluated. Neither Kt/Vurea nor UF differed significantly between control and SILENCIA cyclers. Out of 10 patients answering the questionnaire on sleep quality after the 2-week phase with the SILENCIA cycler, sleep quality improved in 5 patients; in the other patients, sleep quality was rated unchanged compared to the previously used cycler. The average reported sleep time was 5.9 ± 1.8 h with the PD-NIGHT, 7.2 ± 2.1 h with HomeChoice Pro, and 8.0 ± 1.6 h with the SILENCIA cycler. All patients were much or very much satisfied with the new cycler. CONCLUSION: The SILENCIA cycler delivers adequate urea clearance and UF. Importantly, sleep quality improved, possibly related to less caution messages and alarms.

Peritoneal dialysis in chronic renal failure patients over 65 years of age.

The number of patients over 65 years of age with chronic renal failure has increased. Peritoneal dialysis (PD) is an effective mode of treatment for such patients. In the present study, we report our experience with automated PD in patients over 65. We recorded the demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients and the exit-site infection rate, the peritonitis rate, and the mortality rate, comparing those parameters with the same parameters in patients under 65. We followed 36 patients (30% of the total study population) who were over 65 years of age (mean: 74.5 +/- 7.3 years). Of the 36 patients, 34 (94.4%) had another chronic disease--arterial hypertension and heart disease being the more common. Eleven of the patients (31%) had diabetes. Duration of PD therapy in the group was 31.5 +/- 20.7 months. Ten of the patients (27.8%) had at least 1 catheter-related complication, including exit-site infection (n = 3), tunnel infection (n = 1), or a noninfectious complication (n = 6). The rate of catheter-related infection was 0.22 episodes/patient-year. Two catheter were lost: 1 in a case of hematoma, and 1 in a case of catheter obstruction. The rate of peritonitis was 0.16 episodes/patient-year, and the most common infectious agent was methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus. Actuarial survival of our elderly patients was 51.8% at 4 years of follow-up as compared with 81.7% in the younger patients (p = 0.01). All cases of death were related to comorbid conditions, not to PD therapy. Two patients were transferred to hemodialysis. We conclude that PD has proven to be a safe and comfortable therapy for renal replacement in patients over 65 years of age. Results are similar to results in younger patients.

Outcome of peritoneal dialysis: Tenckhoff catheter survival in a prospective study.

Loss of the peritoneal dialysis (PD) catheter is a major cause of PD technique failure and transfer to hemodialysis. In the present study, we report our experience with permanent peritoneal catheters. We prospectively analyzed 125 double-cuff coiled, swan-neck catheters implanted by the open surgical method in 120 patients from January 1996 to June 2003. The patients were evaluated monthly and followed for a total of 2806 patient-months. The mean age of the patients was 55 +/- 17 years (range: 22 - 91 years); 52% were men; 20% had diabetes; 10% were receiving immunosuppressive treatment; 45% were Staphylococcus aureus nasal carriers; and 93.3% were on automated PD. Catheter survival was 97% at 2 years and 92.2% at 5 years. A total of 59 early and late catheter complications were observed in 36 patients. These included exit-site infection at a rate of 0.125 episodes/ patient-year. The most frequent noninfectious complications were herniation (8%), leakage (6%), and bloody dialysate (3%). Statistical analysis did not identify variables that predicted the development of exit-site infection. The overall peritonitis rate was 0.149 episodes/patient-year. Our data suggest that the main catheter complication is infection. The low incidence of infection in our study is probably related more to good installation technique and aftercare than to the clinical characteristics of the patients.