Piraino B, Bernardini J
Dialysate/plasma urea and creatinine in 24 hour clearance studies in CAPD, CCPD, and NPD
17th Annual CAPD Conference
Perit Dial Int Suppl 1 (Feb) 17:S9 1997

It is generally assumed in CAPD that urea equilibration is in excess of 90% and sometimes as high as 100%. The investigators measure equilibration ratios for urea and creatinine in 452 clearance studies [359 on CAPD, 72 on CCPD, 21 on NPD]. Mean equilibration ratios for urea are 0.88 on CAPD, 0.73 on CCPD and 0.64 on NPD. For creatinine the numbers are 0.70, 0.54 and 0.44, respectively. The range for urea on CAPD is from 0.5 to 1.2. The authors conclude that, on average, urea equilibration on CAPD is not as high as people have suspected; they suggest that this may relate to at least some of the exchanges in many patients being less than 4 hours. They conclude that full equilibration for urea should not be assumed on CAPD.

It has been reported before that urea equilibration ratios in CAPD differ in some populations from as low as 0.85 to as high as 0.95. This likely reflects differences in dwell duration in some patients, as the authors suggest. It also may be affected by excessive flushing in `flush-before-fill' giving sets. Other patients are, of course, genuinely low transporters and so, even when they comply with their prescription, still do not achieve full equilibration. This study again emphasizes the importance of measuring rather than predicting clearances in PD patients. (Peter G. Blake, M.D., Victoria Hospital, London, Ontario)

To go back use the BACK button on your browser.
Otherwise click on the desired link to this article below:
17th Annual CAPD Conference
Basic peritoneal dialysis : Chronic PD regimens, adequacy, modeling