The use of online hemodiafiltration may improve the prognosis of patients in the final stages of kidney failure who are receiving intensive hemodialysis treatment.
Using this treatment method, the removal of waste products from the body is far more effective due to the addition of convective transport to regular hemodialysis. Basically, this means that waste products are removed from the blood stream not only through diffusion but also through filtration. The Dutch CONvective transport STudy (CONTRAST) has been set up to find out if online hemodiafiltration can indeed improve the survival rate of patients by comparing it with regular hemodialysis. Approximately 700 chronic hemodialysis patients from more than 20 dialysis centers in the Netherlands, Norway, and Canada are participating in this study. The final results of this study are expected in 2011.
In the first part of his doctoral thesis, Lars Penne explains the preconditions that are necessary in order for hemodiafiltration to be carried out optimally. These include the microbiological quality of the dialysis fluid and the volume of the convective transport. In the second part of his thesis, Penne discusses the effects of hemodiafiltration on the biochemical parameters.
Patients who have final stage kidney failure and are being treated intensively with hemodialysis are at much higher risk of contracting cardiovascular disease which could lead to death. This can probably be partly explained by the incomplete removal of harmful waste products during hemodialysis treatment.
Lars Penne will receive his PhD from Utrecht University on August 25. The title of his dissertation is “Online Hemodiafiltration: treatment optimization and effects on biochemical parameters.”