Caring for Older Patients on Peritoneal Dialysis at End of Life.

End of life is the last phase of life, not merely the last few days. For many older patients on peritoneal dialysis (PD), the end-of-life phase commences with the start of dialysis. The principal aim of management of this phase should be optimizing the quality of life of the patient.

[Choice of a dialysis method for patients with kidney failure].

The principal options for treatment of end-stage renal disease are hospital, out-center, self-or home hemodialysis or continuous ambulatory or automated peritoneal dialysis. Hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis were long considered competitive methods, but they have become complementary and the same patient can use them successively at different life stages. The choice of technique usually depends on family, personal, social and work factors, rather than the medical situation.

Survival of functionally anuric patients on automated peritoneal dialysis: the European APD Outcome Study.

The European APD Outcome Study (EAPOS) is a 2-yr, prospective, multicenter study of the feasibility and clinical outcomes of automated peritoneal dialysis (APD) in anuric patients. A total of 177 patients were enrolled with a median age of 54 yr (range, 21 to 91 yr). Previous median total time on dialysis was 38 mo (range, 1.