Harty JC, Boutlin H, Venning MC, Gokal R
Dialysis adequacy and nutrition in CAPD: a prospective study
Am Soc Nephrol
J Am Soc Nephrol (abstract) (Nov) 6:601 1995

This small study is important because it is one of the few prospective studies done on this subject. The authors prospectively increase dialytic dose in 42 patients and leave it unchanged in 26. Nutritional parameters are followed up over 12 months. Patients whose KT/V was successfully increased are compared with those in whom it decreased. There is no difference in outcome with respect to changes in serum albumin and lean body mass. Patients with falling KT/V gain more body fat and have an improvement in their anthropometric indices! There is, however, a correlation between the falling KT and falling protein intake. Protein intake, however, falls in the patients with increasing KT also.

The authors conclude that prospective increases in dialytic dose do not result in clear nutritional gains. They suggest that the normalizing factor used in clearance calculations may be partly confounding the issue.

These findings are important and are somewhat pessimistic as to the benefits of increasing dialytic dose in PD. Patient numbers were small, however, and further studies are needed to confirm or refute this controversial finding. (Blake)

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Am Soc Nephrol
CRF by organ system : Nutrition
Basic peritoneal dialysis : Chronic PD regimens, adequacy, modeling