Intraperitoneal Pressure in Polycystic and Non-Polycystic Kidney Disease Patients, Treated by Peritoneal Dialysis.

INTRODUCTION: Intraperitoneal volume (IPV) should be individualized and aimed to maintain an intraperitoneal pressure (IPP) lower than 17 cm H2O. IPP is very variable, given its relation with body size. However, it is not yet fully understood which anthropometric variable mostly affects IPP and the relation between IPP and organomegaly in polycystic kidney disease (PKD) patients is not known. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study was to analyse the relation between antropometric variables and IPP in a large cohort of peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients and to identify if a relation between nephromegaly and IPP exists in PKD patients. METHODS: IPP was measured in PD patients and data was retrospectively collected. In PKD patients, total kidney volumes were measured in CT scans, and normalized with height (hTKV). RESULTS: Seventy-seven patients were included in the study, 18% affected by PKD. Mean IPP was 14.9 ± 2.9 cm H2O and it showed significant positive correlation with body mass index (BMI; ρ = 0.42, p < 0.001). No correlation was found between IPP and absolute IPV; conversely, IPP has a significant inverse correlation with IPV normalized with BMI and body surface area (ρ -0.38, p = 0.001 and ρ -0.25, p = 0.02, -respectively). Patients with IPP >17 cm H2O have significant larger BMI and lower IPV/BMI compared to those with IPP <17 cm H2O (29 ± 3.6 vs. 26 ± 4 kg/m2, p < 0.05 and 97 ± 15.5 vs. 109 ± 22 mL/kg/m2, p < 0.05). PKD patients have a wide variability in hTKV (range 645-3,787 mL/m2) and it showed a significant correlation with IPP/IPV (ρ = 0.6, p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with larger BMI have greater IPP, irrespectively to IPV. In PKD patients, hTKV correlate with IPP/IPV ratio. However, given the wide range of distribution of hTKV, increased IPP cannot be presumed because of pre-existing polycystic kidney, but need to be quantified.

Remote monitoring in peritoneal dialysis: benefits on clinical outcomes and on quality of life.

BACKGROUND: Automated peritoneal dialysis (APD) has been proved benefit from remote monitoring (RM), but evidences are limited. In this study, we compared clinical outcomes and quality of life (QoL) in two group of patients undergoing APD, with and without exposure of RM. METHODS: This is a retrospective cohort study, comparing outcomes in two groups of APD patients monitored during 6 months with RM (group A: n = 35) or standard care (group B: n = 38 patients). In our clinical practice, we assign the RM system to patients who live more distant from the PD center or difficulty in moving. We evaluated emergency visits, hospitalizations, peritonitis, overhydration, and dropout. QoL was assessed with the Kidney Disease Quality of life-Short Form (KDQOL-SF). We included four additional questions focused on patient's perception of monitoring, safety and timely problems solution (Do you think that home-therapy monitoring could interfere with your privacy? Do you think that your dialysis sessions are monitored frequently enough? Do you think that dialysis-related issues are solved timely? Do you feel comfortable carrying out your home-based therapy?). RESULTS: The case group presented a higher comorbidity score, according to Charlson Comorbidity Index (group A: 5.0; IQR 4.0-8.0 versus group B: 4.0; IQR 3.0-6.0) (p = 0.042). The results in group A showed a reduction in the urgent visits due to acute overhydration (group A: 0.17 ± 0.45 versus group B: 0.66 ± 1.36) (p: 0.042) and in the number of disease-specific hospitalization (group A n = 2.0; 18.2% versus group B n = 7.0; 77.8%) (p = 0.022). We did not find any difference between the two groups in terms of hospitalization because of all-cause, peritonitis, overhydration, and dropout. The analysis of KDQOL-SF subscales was similar in the two groups; on the contrary, the answers of our pointed questions have showed a significant difference between the two groups (group A: 100 IQR 87.5-100.0 versus group B 87.5; IQR 75.0-100.0) (p: 0.018). CONCLUSION: RM improved clinical outcomes in PD patients, reducing the emergency visits and the hospitalizations, related to nephrological problems, especially in patients with higher comorbidity score. The acceptance and satisfaction of care were better in patients monitored with RM than with standard APD.

Lipopolysaccharide Evaluation in Peritoneal Dialysis Patients with Peritonitis.

BACKGROUND: Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), also known as endotoxin, is cell wall component of Gram-negative (GN) bacteria, which may contribute to the progression of a local infection to sepsis. Previous studies demonstrate that LBP is detectable in peritoneal effluents of peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients and it is significantly elevated in PD patients with peritonitis caused by both GN and Gram-positive (GP) bacteria. AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate LPS levels in PD patients; in particular, we investigated different LPS levels in the context of GP and GN peritonitis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We enrolled 49PD (61% Continuous Ambulatory PD and 39% Automated PD) patients: 37 with peritonitis and 12 without. Quantitative determination of LPS was performed by Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay Kitin peritoneal and plasma samples. RESULTS: Quantitative analysis of peritoneal and plasma LPS showed significantly higher levels in PD patients with peritonitis compared to patients without (p = 0.001). Furthermore, we divided patients with peritonitis in 2 groups on the basis of Gram staining (GP 27; GN 12). Peritoneal and plasma LPS levels showed significantly lower levels in PD patients with GP peritonitis than in patients with GN (p = 0.001). The median level of LPS showed no significant differences between patients without peritonitis and with GP peritonitis (p = 0.195). On the contrary, LPS levels showed significantly higher levels in PD patients with GN peritonitis compared to patients without peritonitis (p = 0.001). A significant positive correlation was observed between peritoneal white blood cells count (pWBC) and peritoneal LPS (Spearman's rho = 0,412, p = 0.013). However, no statistically significant correlation was observed between plasma LPS and WBC count. CONCLUSION: We observed LPS presence in all PD patients. In particular, our results demonstrated that LPS is significantly elevated in PD patients with GN peritonitis. Furthermore, pWBC and LPS levels increased proportionally in PD patients with peritonitis. Peritoneal and plasma LPS levels could be a useful marker for diagnosis and management of GN peritonitis in PD patients.

[Vascular access survey in the Triveneto area: data analysis for the year 2017].

In 2017 the Italian Society of Nephrology operating in the Triveneto area investigated through a questionnaire, distributed to the various nephrological centers in the regions of Friuli Venezia Giulia, Trentino Alto Adige and Veneto, the differences concerning organizational models, choice of dialysis, creation and management of vascular access. The results emerging from the analysis of the collected data are presented.

Eryptosis Is Altered in Peritoneal Dialysis Patients.

BACKGROUND: Red blood cells (RBCs) undergo programmed cell death known as eryptosis. Triggers of eryptosis include increased cytosolic Ca(2+) concentration, oxidative stress, osmotic shock, energy depletion and several uremic toxins. Little is known about the pathogenesis of eryptosis in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients; furthermore, its relevance in worsening clinical conditions in these patients is still not completely defined. OBJECTIVES: We investigated eryptosis levels in PD patients and its association with inflammatory and clinical parameters. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 46 PD patients and 17 healthy subjects (CTR) were enrolled. All eryptosis measurements were made in freshly isolated RBCs using the flow cytometer. RESULTS: Eryptosis was significantly higher in PD patients than that in CTR (p < 0.001). Eryptosis levels did not differ significantly between PD patients with and without diabetes, with and without hypertension, and with and without cardiovascular disease. Eryptosis showed no significant differences between patients treated with continuous ambulatory PD/automated PD, with Kt/Vurea value ≤1.7 and >1.7, with a negative or positive history of peritonitis. On the contrary, eryptosis showed significantly lower levels in PD patients with weekly creatinine clearance ≥45 L/week/1.73 m2 (2.8%, 1.7-4.9 vs. 5.6%, 5.0-13.5; p= 0.049). Eryptosis showed significantly lower levels in PD patients with residual diuresis (n = 23) than that in patients without (3.7%, 2.6-5.6 vs. 5%, 3.1-16; p = 0.03). In these 23 patients, significant negative correlations between percentage of eryptosis and residual glomerular filtration rate (rGFR; Spearman's rho = -0.51, p = 0.01) and diuresis volume (Spearman's rho = -0.43, p = 0.05) were found. CONCLUSIONS: The present study demonstrated higher eryptosis levels in PD patients compared to corresponding levels in CTR. Furthermore, important PD comorbidity and main PD parameters do not influence eryptosis. Importantly, our data have reported an increase in eryptosis levels with progressive residual diuresis and rGFR loss, probably due to decreased uremic toxins clearance.

Evolution Over Time of Volume Status and PD-Related Practice Patterns in an Incident Peritoneal Dialysis Cohort.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Volume overload is frequent in prevalent patients on kidney replacement therapies and is associated with outcome. This study was devised to follow-up volume status of an incident population on peritoneal dialysis (PD) and to relate this to patient-relevant outcomes. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS: This prospective cohort study was implemented in 135 study centers from 28 countries. Incident participants on PD were enrolled just before the actual PD treatment was started. Volume status was measured using bioimpedance spectroscopy before start of PD and thereafter in 3-month intervals, together with clinical and laboratory parameters, and PD prescription. The association of volume overload with time to death was tested using a competing risk Cox model. RESULTS: In this population of 1054 participants incident on PD, volume overload before start of PD amounted to 1.9±2.3 L, and decreased to 1.2±1.8 L during the first year. At all time points, men and participants with diabetes were at higher risk to be volume overloaded. Dropout from PD during 3 years of observation by transfer to hemodialysis or transplantation (23% and 22%) was more prevalent than death (13%). Relative volume overload >17.3% was independently associated with higher risk of death (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.59; 95% confidence interval, 1.08 to 2.33) compared with relative volume overload ≤17.3%. Different practice patterns were observed between regions with respect to proportion of patients on PD versus hemodialysis, selection of PD modality, and prescription of hypertonic solutions. CONCLUSIONS: In this large cohort of incident participants on PD, with different treatment practices across centers and regions, we found substantial volume overload already at start of dialysis. Volume overload improved over time, and was associated with survival.

Catheter-related infections in peritoneal dialysis: comparison of a single center results and the literature data.

BACKGROUND: Catheter-related infections are important causes of morbidity in patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis (PD). There are different protocols of exit site care for the prevention of catheter-related infections. The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence of catheter-related infections and their complications in our PD center. METHODS: We performed a retrospective, observational study for all patients receiving PD in our center. We observed prevalent patients every year for 5 years. The patients performed the exit-site care three times a week, cleaning the exit site with 10% sodium hypochlorite. From 2017, update of ISPD recommendations suggests the application of antibiotic creams. We recorded the incidence rate of ESI and TI, gentamicin resistance, catheter lost, related post-ESI peritonitis and fungal infections, and we compared our results with the data in the literature. RESULTS: Prevalent patients per year were 117.6 ± 5.5. The "time at risk" was 356.46 years. The median values of TESI (tunnel and exit site infections), TI, gentamicin resistance, related post-ESI peritonitis and fungal infection rate were similar in our results and the literature data. The ESI and the catheter lost caused by infection were significantly lower in our patients. No significant adverse effects, such as skin allergy or intolerance, were reported. CONCLUSIONS: Our results confirm the utility and the safety of routinely exit site care using 10% sodium hypochlorite. This protocol resulted similar to the data reported in the literature. Our analysis of the literature highlighted the wide variation in the infection rate of ESI and TI.

Longitudinal Experience with Remote Monitoring for Automated Peritoneal Dialysis Patients.

BACKGROUND: Peritoneal dialysis (PD) is an ideal model for testing remote monitoring (RM). In this study, we evaluated the RM application longitudinally in stable patients undergoing automated PD (APD). METHODS: This was an observational study, comparing outcomes in patients with (current patients) and without (historical data) exposure of RM. We analyzed cost-effectiveness of RM-APD measuring the number of night alarms, number of hospital visits, direct and indirect costs. RESULTS: Changes in APD prescription were almost double in the case group (RM) compared to the control group (p = 0.0005). The need for in-person visits and nocturnal alarms was significantly less in RM-APD than in traditional APD (p = 0.01 and p = 0.002, respectively). The distance traveled by patients in the case of RM-APD was reduced by 1,134 km with a time saving of 1,554 min for patients. The overall cost reduction for the PD center in terms of time/nurse and time/physician was 2,647 and 3,673 min, respectively. All these advantages were obtained in the presence of an improved technique survival with a significant reduction of dropouts. All patients found that it is easy to use the RM system and were satisfied with the high level of interaction with the care team and with the possibility of timely resolving technical problems. CONCLUSION: These data confirm the long-term benefits of RM applied to APD. RM-APD is cost-effective; it allows early detection and resolution of problems, improved treatment compliance, reduction of patient's access to hospital center for technical and clinical complications with consequent savings, and improved patient's quality of life.

Remote Patient Management in Peritoneal Dialysis Improves Clinical Outcomes.

Chronic diseases are a global concern and a leading cause of death and disability. These conditions require intensive and ongoing medical assistance to maximize outcomes and avoid the risk of frequent flare-ups and hospitalizations, which increase the cost of healthcare. Remote patient management (RPM) is a strategy that allows for accurate home monitoring of chronic patients, enabling the team to improve care through prevention and early identification of problems, with consequent timely interventions. Peritoneal dialysis (PD) is a home-based therapy representing an ideal model for testing the ability of RPM to improve clinical outcomes by allowing the 2-way link between health providers and patients. The literature and our own results confirm that RPM applied to automated peritoneal dialysis (APD) allows an efficient use of healthcare resources, helping to improve tailoring of APD prescription and to intervene early with troubleshooting, reducing the frequency of in-person visits for emergency problems. RPM-APD is today made possible by a cloud-based software providing bidirectional communication between patient's home and the hospital care team (Cycler HOMECHOICE CLARIA with SHARESOURCE platform). This approach can be useful in promptly identifying patients with higher risk of complications: a knowledge-based management permits the reduction of urgent events, and the prevention of clinical complications improving patient outcomes. In our experience, matured over 2 years in a cohort of prevalent patients, we observed a significant reduction of patient drop-out and technique failure, the number of scheduled and unscheduled hospital visits, the number of episodes of overhydration, rate of hospitalization, episodes of non-compliance to prescription, patient and hospital team time spent in travelling and management of therapy, healthcare costs and patient's expenditure, miles travelled by patients from home to hospital and vice versa. The cost/benefit analysis is strongly in favor of the RPM-APD modality versus the traditional periodic hospital visit regime.

Remote Patient Management: The Future Is G.R.E.E.N.

Peritoneal dialysis is the ideal field where remote patient management (RPM) techniques can be experimented and implemented for a better care. Real-time feedback on patients and machine signals allow for rapid and effective correction of prescription and troubleshooting. Recent results have spurred new interest in this area, where new technology and new options appear to open interesting scenarios for the future. The acronym G.R.E.E.N. describes the initials of the disciplines that are likely to characterize the future of this area of care and research. G for genetics: patient genotyping will allow in the future to expand the application of precision medicine solutions in response to remote monitoring signals. R for robotics: the mechanical actuation of operations normally carried out by a care giver will permit to take maximum advantage of bidirectional interactions between remote signals and remote feedback on dialysis equipment. E for E-health and Information communication technology. Remote monitoring will provide the basis for specific algorithms that can be further implemented and improved by artificial intelligence networks. This will provide support in the decision-making process and will even provide the basis for automated feedback operations. E for eco-compatibility: home therapies with remote monitoring will contribute to save fuel consumption and will provide environment-friendly solutions. N for nanosciences: this interesting area of research will offer a new spectrum of biomaterials and will enable possible uses of nanofluids. The application of advanced RPM with a G.R.E.E.N. approach is likely to provide significant benefits for the future with cost reduction, early detection and resolution of problems, improved treatment compliance, reduction of patient's access to hospital center for technical and clinical complications, increased confidence of patients treated at home with higher incidence and prevalence of home therapies, and consequent improvement in patient's quality of life.

Evolution of Automated Peritoneal Dialysis Machines.

Peritoneal dialysis (PD) has undergone several improvements over the years. Among the numerous advances, we may recall the improvement in the quality of fluids, safety of catheters and connections, knowledge of the peritoneal membrane in the process of mass transfer separation typical of PD. In parallel with these achievements, PD techniques have also displayed significant improvements mainly due to the evolution of machines and cyclers. Originally, bottles or containers were used to deliver and drain fluid to and from the peritoneal cavity by gravity using manual techniques. Subsequently, the development of semiautomatic or automatic machines have permitted to deliver an adequate treatment during night-time without the need of patient or care giver intervention. These advances solved the problem of treatment delivery, but other aspects including complications and adherence to prescription could only be managed using magnetic cards containing data from different treatments and brought by the patient at the following routinely planned hospital consultation. Today these limitations have been overcome by the new cycler "HOMECHOICE CLARIA" equipped with SHARESOURCE software featuring a bidirectional communication protocol that allows a full remote patient management (RPM). RPM has demonstrated significant advantages including higher technique survival, reduced rate of complications, and reduced costs in patients undergoing long-term PD.

Remote Patient Management in Peritoneal Dialysis: Impact on Clinician's Practice and Behavior.

Peritoneal dialysis (PD) is a self-administered chronic renal replacement therapy. It is a home-based therapy, and thus subject to the risk of discrepancy between prescribed dose and effective dialysis delivery. Till now automated peritoneal dialysis (APD) cyclers have recorded the dialysis treatments on a card that patients bring to the hospital for consultation in the PD unit. This card contains the operative parameters of each APD session. Recently, Baxter Healthcare developed a cloud-based tool for remote patient and treatment management. The new platform named Sharesource® embedded into the cycler HOMECHOICE CLARIA® allows to overcome the problems related to poor compliance and feeling of uncertainty by the patient, reducing the number of hospital visits and the workload for physician and nurses of the PD Unit. This new system uploads all treatment information to a secure cloud-based software. The 2-way communication platform gives remote visibility to patient's treatment and allows for feedback and correction of inadequate treatment program. Remote patient management (RPM) allows to visualize the course of home PD day after day, evaluating adherence to prescription, possible alarms during treatment, drainage times, and ultrafiltration amount. The evaluation of all the data can be done by the physician at his desk in the Hospital in front of the computer. RPM allows a patient's dialytic management in real time and enables the nephrologist to remotely modify treatment operative parameters, leaving the patient at home saving kilometers, money and time. In this chapter, we describe a simple algorithm used in our unit to define alarm thresholds and to describe actions to be instituted to correct any possible problem occurring during APD.

Clinical management of patients on peritoneal dialysis in Italy: results from the ATENA study.

BACKGROUND: In Italy, few studies have examined the clinical management of peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients, resulting in a lack of information and awareness. METHODS: A total of 378 PD patients (64.7 ± 14.3 years, 58.9% males) were enrolled across 15 centres in a 12-month retrospective and 6-month prospective study. The primary objective was to evaluate the achievement of Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative and Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes guidelines on recommended target values for anaemia, high blood pressure and mineral metabolism. Comorbidities, hospitalizations, treatment and quality of life were also assessed. RESULTS: Frequent comorbidities included hypertension (87.8%) and cardiovascular disease (39.7%). Peritonitis was the leading cause of hospitalization [12 admissions per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval 9.3-15.2)]. At 6 months, anaemia corrected by erythropoiesis-stimulating agents was observed in 30% of patients and 73% received erythropoiesis-stimulating agents. Systolic and diastolic blood pressures were recorded in 50% and 20% of patients, respectively. Sixty-four percent of echocardiograms revealed left ventricular hypertrophy and 30% of patients had vitamin D <10 ng/mL. Medication to treat intact parathyroid hormone (PTH) included calcitriol (36.3%), paricalcitol (29.2%), cholecalciferol (23.6%) and cinacalcet (21.5%). In a subgroup of patients matched for baseline PTH treated for 1 year, a significant reduction in PTH with paricalcitol (-41%; P < 0.001) but not cinacalcet (+2%; P = 0.63) was observed. Comparison of quality of life domains revealed significant differences for symptoms (P = 0.049), cognitive function (P = 0.019) and social support (P = 0.04) (baseline versus 6 months). CONCLUSIONS: Hypertension and cardiovascular diseases were frequent comorbidities and peritonitis was the leading cause of hospitalization. Secondary hyperparathyroidism and anaemia were common, thus necessitating frequent monitoring of PTH, calcium, phosphorus and haemoglobin.

Remote Monitoring of Automated Peritoneal Dialysis Improves Personalization of Dialytic Prescription and Patient's Independence.

BACKGROUND: Remote monitoring (RM) supports a healthcare model that enhances patients' self-management. We evaluated the utility of RM in patients undergoing automated peritoneal dialysis (APD). METHODS: We observed 37 -RM-APD patients, 16 incidents, and 21 prevalents switched from traditional APD (T-APD). We observed the number of changes for APD prescription, the frequency of visits, and PD adequacy parameters during 1 year of RM utilization in APD. RESULTS: The APD prescriptions were modified more frequently in RM-APD vs. T-APD in incident (p = 0.002) and prevalent patients (p = 0.045). Visits were significant less in -RM-APD than in T-APD for incident patient (p = 0.008). No significant difference was found between prevalent populations. PD adequacy was similar in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate that RM allows an efficient use of healthcare resources, helping to improve personalization of APD prescription and to intervene early with "trouble shooting", thereby reducing the frequency of in-person visits for emergency problems.

Hemodialysis versus peritoneal dialysis: an observational study in two international centers.

INTRODUCTION: Given that it is difficult to randomize end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients to either hemodialysis (HD) or peritoneal dialysis (PD), differences between these renal replacement therapy (RRT) modalities are of major interest and remain controversial. METHODS: All data on maintenance dialysis patients during 2009 to 2013 in the Renji Hospital in Shanghai, China and in the San Bortolo Hospital in Vicenza, Italy were selected. Patients who changed their therapy from HD to PD or PD to HD during this study were excluded. RESULTS: 919 maintenance dialysis patients were included in the present study, including 509 patients on HD and 410 on PD. During the 5-year follow-up, mean arterial pressure (MAP) was higher in HD patients. The level of serum HCO3- was significantly better in PD patients than in HD patients. Phosphate was significantly higher in HD patients than in PD patients. With respect to lipid metabolism, triglyceride, total cholesterol and LDL were significantly higher in PD patients. Serum protein and albumin were higher in HD patients than in PD patients. Overall, 236 patients died (25.7%); 150 (16.3%) on HD and 86 (9.4%) on PD. The main cause of death in HD and PD patients was cerebral vascular disease and infection, respectively. After adjusting for dialysis vintage, the Kaplan-Meier patient survival was similar between HD and PD patients. CONCLUSIONS: Based on 5 years of data, we demonstrate that lipid metabolism and nutritional status were better in HD patients. However, blood pressure control, acid-base balance, phosphate (P) control were better in PD patients. The main cause of death in HD and PD was cerebral vascular disease and infection, respectively. Considering the dialysis vintage, the Kaplan-Meier patient survival was similar between HD and PD patients.

Worldwide Experiences with Assisted Peritoneal Dialysis.

End-stage renal disease (ESRD) is common in the elderly population, and renal replacement therapy (RRT) is often required. However, in this particular subgroup of patients, the choice between hemodialysis (HD) and peritoneal dialysis (PD) is often not an easy decision to make. Published literature has adequately demonstrated that PD prevalence is significantly less than HD across all patient age groups despite several advantages. We also know that elderly patients are less likely to complete a PD assessment, due to both medical and social barriers. Additionally, elderly patients are often reluctant to go ahead with PD despite being eligible PD candidates, mainly due to the fear of performing self-therapy. Recently, many new assisted PD (asPD) programs have cropped up in several countries. The main aim of these programs is to overcome barriers to PD and to promote PD utilization among elderly and non-self-sufficient patients. Although asPD has proven to be associated with good clinical results, there still remain concerns about its greater use. In this review, we will first describe an ideal asPD model and then enumerate examples of strategies and outcomes associated with successful asPD programs worldwide.

Peritoneal Dialysis for Patients with Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease.

End-stage renal disease secondary to autosomal dominant polycystic kidney (ADPKD) is a common issue worldwide. Peritoneal dialysis (PD) is a reasonable option for renal replacement therapy for these patients and should not be withheld due to concerns that the patient may not tolerate the fluid volumes in the peritoneal cavity. This review covers the existing data on the outcomes and complications associated with the use of PD in the polycystic kidney disease patient. In general, PD is well tolerated and outcomes in ADPKD patients are equivalent to or better than other patient groups.

The Influence of Glucose Exposure Load and Peritoneal Membrane Transport on Body Composition and Nutritional Status Changes after 1 Year on Peritoneal Dialysis.

BACKGROUND: The characteristics of peritoneal membrane transport differ among patients, affecting the prescription of peritoneal dialysis (PD) modality and glucose exposure in order to achieve an effective dialysis. This study aims to verify the influence of glucose exposure load and peritoneal membrane transport on body composition and nutritional status changes after the first year of PD. METHODS: We examined a cohort of 85 incident PD patients during the first year of treatment. We established a cut-off of 5% to define changes in dry weight (DW), lean tissue mass (LTM), and fat mass (FM). RESULTS: In total, 50.6% of the patients presented DW gain, 41.2% showed LTM loss, and 65.9% presented FM gain. Over the time (T0 - T12), we found significant differences in DW, body mass index (BMI), adipose tissue mass (ATM), FM and fat tissue index (FTI). Patients with lower dialysate-to-plasma creatinine ratio showed DW and FM gain. We observed a higher percentage of nonfast transporters in DW gain when comparing with DW no gain. As for glucose exposure load, no body composition changes were seen. CONCLUSIONS: Most patients presented DW gain, FM gain, and LTM loss. The characteristics of peritoneal membrane transport affected DW during the first year, changes being greater in nonfast than in fast transporters.

Pro-inflammatory cytokines: a possible relationship with dialytic adequacy and serum albumin in peritoneal dialysis patients.

BACKGROUND: Inflammation and serum albumin concentration are both important predictors of survival in patients treated with peritoneal dialysis (PD). Furthermore, systemic and local inflammatory mediators may induce structural and functional alterations in the peritoneal membrane, thus interfering with dialysis adequacy. PD adequacy is monitored primarily by indices of small solute clearance, such as Kt/V urea and weekly creatinine clearance (wCc). The aim of this study was to investigate the possible relationship between pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß), and serum albumin and C-reactive protein (CRP). Moreover, the relationship between IL-6 and IL-1ß and PD adequacy has been analysed. METHODS: We enrolled 46 stable PD patients undergoing maintenance PD for a minimum of 3 months. Plasma levels of serum albumin, high-sensitivity (hs)-CRP, IL-6 and IL-1ß were measured in all patients. We used weekly Kt/V urea and wCc to monitor PD adequacy. Daily urine volume was measured in all patients. RESULTS: The median values of serum albumin, hs-CRP, IL-6 and IL-1ß showed no significant differences between continuous ambulatory PD and automated PD patients. IL-6 levels showed a positive correlation with hs-CRP levels (P < 0.001) and a negative correlation with serum albumin concentration (P = 0.01). There was no statistically significant relationship between IL-1ß and hs-CRP or serum albumin concentrations. Subsequently, PD patients were divided into two groups based on Kt/V urea value. PD patients with Kt/V ≤1.7 had significantly higher IL-6 levels compared with PD patients with Kt/V >1.7 (P = 0.015). No statistically significant relationship between IL-6 and wCc was observed. There was no significant difference in IL-1ß levels between PD patients with Kt/V ≤1.7 and with Kt/V >1.7 [median (interquartile range) 0.82 (0.88-5.2) versus 1.82 (0.95-2.7)]. There was no significant difference in IL-6 and IL-1ß levels in PD patients with and without residual diuresis (P = 0.32 and P = 0.77, respectively). CONCLUSION: Our data suggest a possible relationship between serum IL-6 levels and serum albumin and hs-CRP in PD patients. Furthermore, IL-6 seems to be higher in patients with lower Kt/V, thus suggesting a possible use of this inflammatory biomarker in PD adequacy monitoring.