Lower Mortality Seen With Hemodiafiltration for Kidney Failure

WEDNESDAY, June 21, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- For patients with kidney failure, the use of high-dose hemodiafiltration results in a lower risk for death from any cause compared with high-flux hemodialysis, according to a study published online June 16 in the New England Journal of Medicine to coincide with the annual congress of the European Renal Association, held from June 15 to 18 in Milan.

Peter J. Blankestijn, M.D., from the University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands, and colleagues conducted a randomized trial involving patients with kidney failure who received high-flux hemodialysis for at least three months. All the patients were deemed to be candidates for a convection volume of at least 23 L per session (as required for high-dose hemodiafiltration). The patients were randomly assigned to high-dose hemodiafiltration or continuation of conventional high-flux hemodialysis (683 and 677 patients, respectively). Patients were followed for a median of 30 months.

In the hemodiafiltration group, the mean convection volume during the trial was 25.3 L per session. The researchers found that death from any cause occurred in 17.3 and 21.9 percent of patients in the hemodiafiltration and hemodialysis groups, respectively (hazard ratio, 0.77).

"Our trial results, together with those of several other trials and large observational studies, seem to indicate that the safety of hemodiafiltration was acceptable, provided that hygienic and microbiologic rules are fully respected," the authors write.

Several authors disclosed ties to the biopharmaceutical industry.

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