Hydration and nutritional status in patients on home-dialysis-A single centre study.

BACKGROUND: Over-hydration (OH) and malnutrition are prevalent among patients on dialysis therapy. The prevalence of OH and malnutrition as well as the risk factors associated with OH and malnutrition in our patients on home peritoneal dialysis (PD) and home haemodialysis (HD) are examined. DESIGN AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study. The hydration and nutritional status of the study groups were assessed by a Body Composition Monitor. Patients who were stable on home dialysis therapy for over one year were invited to participate. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify associated factors and determine the predictors of OH and malnutrition, respectively. RESULTS: Eighty-eight patients (41 PD and 47 home HD) were recruited. A 32.95% of our patients on home dialysis therapy were in OH status. There was a significance difference in the prevalence of hydration status between patients on PD and home HD (p = 0.014), as overhydration was more common in patients on PD than home HD (46.34 vs. 21.28%). Dehydration was more common in patients on home HD than PD (29.79 vs. 9.76%). Male gender, decreasing haemoglobin level and presence of diabetes mellitus (DM) were risk factors of OH on multivariable analysis. There was no significance difference in the prevalence of malnutrition between patients on PD and home HD (p = 0.27). Increasing Fat Tissue Index (FTI), height and patients on PD therapy were at higher risk of malnutrition. CONCLUSION: OH and malnutrition were prevalent patients on home dialysis therapy.

Effect of alternate night nocturnal home hemodialysis on anemia control in patients with end-stage renal disease.

Nocturnal home hemodialysis (NHHD) has shown promising results in various clinical parameters. Whether NHHD provide benefit in anemia management remains controversial. This study aims to investigate whether anemia and erythropoiesis-stimulating agent (ESA) requirement are improved in patients receiving alternate night NHHD compared with conventional hemodialysis (CHD). In this retrospective controlled study, a clinical data of 23 patients receiving NHHD were compared with 25 in-center CHD patients. Hemoglobin level, ESA requirement, iron profile, and dialysis adequacy indexes were compared between the two groups. Hemoglobin level increased from baseline of 9.37 ± 1.39 g/dL to 11.34 ± 2.41 g/dL at 24 months (P < 0.001) and ESA requirement decreased from 103.44 ± 53.55 U/kg/week to 47.33 ± 50.62 U/kg/week (P < 0.001) in NHHD patients. ESA requirement further reduced after the first year of NHHD (P = 0.037). Standard Kt/V increased from baseline of 2.02 ± 0.28 to 3.52 ± 0.30 at 24 months (P < 0.001). At 24 months, hemoglobin level increased by 1.98 ± 2.74 g/dL in the NHHD group while it decreased by 0.20 ± 2.32 g/dL in the CHD group (P = 0.007). ESA requirement decreased by 53.49 ± 55.50 U/kg/week in NHHD patients whereas it increased by 16.22 ± 50.01 U/kg/week in CHD patients (P < 0.001). Twenty-six percent of NHHD patients were able to stop ESA compared with none in the CHD group. Standard Kt/V showed greater increase in the NHHD group. (1.49 ± 0.36 in NHHD vs. 0.18 ± 0.31 in CHD, P = 0.005). NHHD with an alternate night schedule improves anemia and reduces ESA requirement as a result of enhanced uremic clearance. This benefit extended beyond the first year of NHHD.

One year experience of nocturnal home haemodialysis with an alternate night schedule in Hong Kong.

AIM: Nocturnal home haemodialysis (NHHD) was started in Hong Kong in 2006. The experience of 1 year of NHHD with an alternate night schedule in two local centres is reported. METHODS: The clinical parameters of 14 patients who had completed 1 year of NHHD were retrospectively analyzed. All patients were receiving an alternate night schedule (3.5 sessions/week) for 6-8 h/session. RESULTS: After 1 year of NHHD, haemoglobin levels increased from 9.6±1.6 g/dL before NHHD to 11.4±2.2 g/dL (P<0.05) despite a reduction in erythropoietin dose requirement from 120.6±44.3 to 59.4±74.6 U/kg/week (P<0.05). Four patients (29%) were able to stop taking erythropoietin after NHHD. Serum phosphate levels reduced from 2.33±0.41 to 1.59±0.29 mmol/L (P<0.01) and calcium phosphate product decreased from 5.29±0.96 to 3.74±0.90 mmol2/L2 (P<0.01). Phosphate binder dose was greatly reduced and eight patients (67%) were able to stop taking phosphate binders. The number of antihypertensive medications tended to reduced from 2.5±1.3 to 1.6±1.5 (P=0.067) with four patients (29%) able to stop antihypertensives. Left ventricular mass index decreased from 186±62 to 168±60 g/m2 (P=0.463) although this was not statistically significant. Weekly spKt/V during conventional haemodialysis was 3.63±0.95 while that during NHHD was three times higher at 11.09±6.44 (P<0.01). The quality of life indexes also showed improvement. CONCLUSION: This 1 year experience of alternate night NHHD demonstrates benefits in terms of anaemia control, erythropoietin requirement, serum phosphate and calcium phosphate product reduction, blood pressure control, haemodialysis adequacy and quality of life. NHHD with an alternate night schedule is a promising dialytic therapy for patients receiving chronic haemodialysis in this locality.

Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia and buttonhole cannulation: long-term safety and efficacy of mupirocin prophylaxis.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Buttonhole (constant-site) cannulation (BHC) continues to gain popularity with home and in-center dialysis programs worldwide. However, long-term safety data are lacking. This paper reports the authors' single-center experience with Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia (SAB) and the efficacy of topical mupirocin prophylaxis (MP). DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS: This study was a retrospective prepost comparison of SAB rates after establishing MP. Fifty-six consecutive patients on home nocturnal hemodialysis via arteriovenous fistulae, mean age 51.5 +/- 10.6 years, 38% women, and vintage 44.5 +/- 34.5 months were observed for a total of 93.4 (pre-MP) and 193.5 (post-MP) patient-years. RESULTS: Ten episodes of SAB were observed, with metastatic complications in four cases, including pneumonia (n = 2), septic arthritis, and a fatal C3 epidural abscess. When analyzed by observation period, the odds ratio (OR) for SAB before versus after the introduction of MP was 6.4 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.3 to 32.3; P = 0.02]. Two SAB episodes occurred after the MP started. Both patients had discontinued the MP for 3 weeks (nonadherent) preceding infection; hence, no SAB episodes were observed on treatment. In an as-treated analysis, the OR for SAB in the absence of MP was 35.3 (95% CI = 2.0 to 626.7; P = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: BHC is associated with a significant risk of SAB with metastatic complications. In this prepost comparison of SAB rates, no infections were observed with MP. While awaiting more definitive studies, this simple intervention should be considered for patients using BHC.

The use of nocturnal home hemodialysis as salvage therapy for patients experiencing peritoneal dialysis failure.

BACKGROUND: Failure of peritoneal dialysis (PD) results in poor quality of life and worsening morbidity in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Traditionally, hospital-based conventional hemodialysis has been the only option for this patient population. We hypothesized that nocturnal home hemodialysis (NHD), 3-6 sessions per week, 6-8 hours per session, is a suitable alternative salvage therapy for this vulnerable patient group. METHODS: This is a descriptive cohort study of all consecutive ESRD patients failing PD that were converted to NHD at the University Health Network and Humber River Regional Hospital from 2003 to 2005. Our primary objective was to describe the changes in clinical and biochemical indices before and after conversion from PD to NHD. RESULTS: 69 patients required transfer from PD to another form of renal replacement therapy during the period of interest. Our pilot cohort included 8 ESRD patients (5 males, 3 females; age 53 +/- 7 years). Mean duration on PD was 4.8 +/- 4.6 years. NHD delivered a higher dose of dialysis, as reflected by lower plasma creatinine concentration 1 year after beginning NHD (from 1107 +/- 312 micromol/L with PD to 649 +/- 309 micromol/L, p = 0.01) and a rise in standardized Kt/V (from 2.21 +/- 0.73 with PD to 4.49 +/- 1.92 after 6 months of NHD, to 4.51 +/- 1.77 after 1 year of NHD; p < 0.001). There was a progressive and sustained rise in plasma albumin after conversion to NHD (from 31 +/- 4 g/L with PD to 36 +/- 4 g/L after 6 months of NHD, to 39 +/- 2 g/L after 1 year of NHD; p = 0.001). Hemoglobin concentrations increased (from 102 +/- 13 to 125 +/- 7 g/L, p = 0.03), while erythropoietin requirement tended to fall (from 17500 +/- 8669 to 9197 +/- 7573 U/week). Plasma phosphate fell (from 2.1 +/- 0.6 to 1.1 +/- 0.3 mmol/L, p = 0.01) despite a decrease in phosphate binder requirement. Blood pressure profile also tended to improve after conversion to NHD. CONCLUSION: Nocturnal HD represents a promising, viable, alternative renal replacement therapy for patients experiencing PD failure. The clinical impact of transferring ESRD patients failing PD to NHD deserves further investigation.