Assisted PD throughout Europe: advantages, inequities, and solution proposals.

BACKGROUND: Peritoneal dialysis provides several benefits for patients and should be offered as first line kidney replacement therapy, particularly for fragile patients. Limitation to self-care drove assisted peritoneal dialysis to evolve from family-based care to institutional programs, with specialized care givers. Some European countries have mastered this, while others are still bound by the availability of a volunteer to become responsible for treatment. METHODS: A group of leading nephrologists from 13 European countries integrated real-life application of such therapy, highlighting barriers, lessons learned and practical solutions. The objective of this work is to share and summarize several different approaches, with their intrinsic difficulties and solutions, which might helpperitoneal dialysis units to develop and offer assisted peritoneal dialysis. RESULTS: Assisted peritoneal dialysis does not mean 4 continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis exchanges, 7 days/week, nor does it exclude cycler. Many different prescriptions might work for our patients. Tailoring PD prescription to residual kidney function, thereby maintaining small solute clearance, reduces dialysis burden and is associated with higher technique survival. Assisted peritoneal dialysis does not mean assistance will be needed permanently, it can be a transitional stage towards individual or caregiver autonomy. Private care agencies can be used to provide assistance; other options may involve implementing PD training programs for the staff of nursing homes or convalescence units. Social partners may be interested in participating in smaller initiatives or for limited time periods. CONCLUSION: Assisted peritoneal dialysis is a valid technique, which should be expanded. In countries without structural models of assisted peritoneal dialysis, active involvement by the nephrologist is needed in order for it to become a reality.

Availability of assisted peritoneal dialysis in Europe: call for increased and equal access.

BACKGROUND: Availability of assisted PD (asPD) increases access to dialysis at home, particularly for the increasing numbers of older and frail people with advanced kidney disease. Although asPD has been widely used in some European countries for many years, it remains unavailable or poorly utilized in others. A group of leading European nephrologists have therefore formed a group to drive increased availability of asPD in Europe and in their own countries. METHODS: Members of the group filled in a proforma with the following headings: personal experience, country experience, who are the assistants, funding of asPD, barriers to growth, what is needed to grow and their top three priorities. RESULTS: Only 5 of the 13 countries surveyed provided publicly funded reimbursement for asPD. The use of asPD depends on overall attitudes to PD, with all respondents mentioning the need for nephrology team education and/or patient education and involvement in dialysis modality decision making. CONCLUSIONS AND CALL TO ACTION: Many people with advanced kidney disease would prefer to have their dialysis at home, yet if the frail patient chooses PD most healthcare systems cannot provide their choice. AsPD should be available in all countries in Europe and in all renal centres. The top priorities to make this happen are education of renal healthcare teams about the advantages of PD, education of and discussion with patients and their families as they approach the need for dialysis, and engagement with policymakers and healthcare providers to develop and support assistance for PD.

[Home hemodialysis]. / Heimhämodialyse: Aktuelle Aspekte und Wandel in der Nierenersatztherapie.

Home hemodialysis (HHD) is the cornerstone of renal replacement therapy in Germany. From 1969, it enabled survival with a diagnosis that up to then had been fatal; however, with the development of a good network of dialysis centers, the knowledge and experience of HHD was increasingly lost. Today, HHD is practically no longer included in the education. Insufficient information and a lack of HHD services are the result. Currently, less than 0.8% of patients in Germany are treated with HHD. In the development of dialysis machines, the industry focused on stand-alone machines for the centers. This form of treatment hinders mobility and limits the activities of patients with renal insufficiency requiring dialysis. Starting with the Advancing American Kidney Health Initiative there has been a welcome momentum in the development of innovative, wearable and implantable artificial kidneys. This can improve the quality of life and reduce the mortality rate. The first initiatives have also emerged in Germany and Europe. These innovative devices and the associated transition in renal replacement therapy will solve many problems of the nephrology community, such as personnel shortages or the lack of donor organs and death on the waiting list and give patients independence and mobility. The cost burden on healthcare systems can be reduced. In addition, the immense water and electricity consumption will be dramatically reduced by the regenerative techniques of the new machines.

[Home hemodialysis]. / Heimhämodialyse: Aktuelle Aspekte und Wandel in der Nierenersatztherapie.

Home hemodialysis (HHD) is the cornerstone of renal replacement therapy in Germany. From 1969, it enabled survival with a diagnosis that up to then had been fatal; however, with the development of a good network of dialysis centers, the knowledge and experience of HHD was increasingly lost. Today, HHD is practically no longer included in the education. Insufficient information and a lack of HHD services are the result. Currently, less than 0.8% of patients in Germany are treated with HHD. In the development of dialysis machines, the industry focused on stand-alone machines for the centers. This form of treatment hinders mobility and limits the activities of patients with renal insufficiency requiring dialysis. Starting with the Advancing American Kidney Health Initiative there has been a welcome momentum in the development of innovative, wearable and implantable artificial kidneys. This can improve the quality of life and reduce the mortality rate. The first initiatives have also emerged in Germany and Europe. These innovative devices and the associated transition in renal replacement therapy will solve many problems of the nephrology community, such as personnel shortages or the lack of donor organs and death on the waiting list and give patients independence and mobility. The cost burden on healthcare systems can be reduced. In addition, the immense water and electricity consumption will be dramatically reduced by the regenerative techniques of the new machines.

[Standardized histomorphological processing of peritoneal biopsies as part of the German Peritoneal Biopsy Registry (GRIP, German registry in PD)]. / Standardisierte histomorphologische Aufarbeitung von Peritonealbiopsien im Rahmen des Deutschen Peritonealbiopsieregisters (GRIP, German Registry In PD).

The peritoneal lining of the abdominal cavity consists of a parietal and visceral sheet. The serosa is an interesting organ, which in medical practice is particularly important in the context of chronic peritoneal dialysis (PD). This method of renal replacement therapy utilizes the semipermeability of the peritoneal surface by applying PD solutions of differing osmolarity to eliminate toxic substances and regulate fluid and electrolyte equilibrium. This method is an ideal approach especially for younger patients and is very effective at least for some time. Pre-existing injury to the peritoneum, for example as a consequence of chronic renal insufficiency or associated comorbidities and inflammatory changes that develop during PD, results in a structural remodelling of the serosa. As a consequence, the filtering function of the serosa is lost and PD has to be replaced by another renal replacement therapy. Thorough knowledge of the morphology of peritoneal changes as well as of the risk factors is of paramount importance for therapeutic management and prognosis of PD patients. In order to take this into account, the German Registry In Peritoneal Dialysis (Deutsches Peritonealbiopsieregister, GRIP) was founded a few years ago, which now includes roughly 1700 biopsies, of which detailed clinical and histomorphological information was systematically acquired and collected.