ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND/AIMS: A dialyzer (APS-EX) with a higher hollow fiber density ratio was manufactured using the highest performance polysulfone hollow fiber from Asahi-Kasei Medical. METHODS: We compared the performance of this device in comparison with hemodialysis (HD; APS-S) and hemodiafiltration (HDF) conditions (APS-S, 10 l post-HDF) to evaluate its merit as an internal filtration-enhanced dialyzer. RESULTS: With low molecular weight proteins, APS-EX had a reduction ratio of 74.3% for beta(2)-microglobulin (beta(2)-MG), and 31.0% for alpha(1)-MG. APS-EX had a significant higher removal amount of alpha(1)-MG compared to APS-S (HDF). Significant differences were seen in albumin loss, 4.0 g for APS-EX, 3.0 g for APS-S (HDF), and 0.9 g for APS-S (HD). Using HD mode, APS-EX demonstrated a performance which was more than equivalent to approximately 10 l post-HDF. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggested the possibility that HD equivalent to HDF can be performed safely with the ultrapure dialysate when using APS-EX with internal filtration.
