Phosphate kinetics in dialysis patients.

During extrarenal therapy, plasma phosphate concentrations have specific kinetics: plasma values reach a steady-state nadir 90-120 min after the beginning of the session (from 0.6 to 1.1 mmol/l) with a subsequent high rebound in the 3-4 h following the session.

Technical and clinical data on high-performance hemofiltration: twelve patients during one year.

In 12 chronic hemodialysis patients, postdilutional hemofiltration (HF) was substituted for conventional acetate hemodialysis (HD) (4-5 h/session with high-area capillary dialyzers). In HF, the purposes were to obtain (a) no increase in pre-HF uremia compared with pre-HD uremia (high ultrafiltrate volume), (b) an HF duration shorter than that of HD (mean ultrafiltrate rate greater than 120 ml/min), (c) a disposable cost of an HF session identical to that of an HD session (reuse of hemofilters and extemporaneous preparation of substitution fluid). One-year results were (a) an ultrafiltrate volume of 26.

Arteriovenous shunt measured by bolus dye dilution: reproducibility and comparison between two injection sites.

Twenty-eight brachial arteriovenous fistulae (AVF) flows were assessed by the Stewart and Hamilton method by bolus dye injection. These measurements were divided in two groups: a first group with dye injection into the AVF artery and a second group with dye injection into the efferent vessel of the AVF in close proximity. The increase and the decrease of dye concentration were regular and the circulation occurred very late in both groups.

Plasma kinetics of small molecules during and after hemofiltration: decrease in hemofiltration efficiency related to increase in ultrafiltration rate.

The influence of delay in mass transfer on the real efficiency of hemofiltration sessions (HF) was studied in 7 patients during HF at a moderate ultrafiltration rate (UF rate = 100 ml/min) and at a high UF rate (UF rate = 200 ml/min). Real efficiency was expressed as "effective clearance" (KE) and compared to plasma clearance (KP); KE/KP was calculated from the kinetics of small molecules during HF and stabilized rebound post HF. Rebound in urea and uric acid plasma levels stabilized by 90 min post HF; increase in the UF rate from 100 to 200 ml/min was responsible for a decrease in KE/KP of 4% for urea and 11% for uric acid.

Peliosis hepatis in a chronic hemodialysis patient.

Peliosis has been described rarely in patients with chronic renal failure. The case reported shows the difficulty of diagnosis in a chronic hemodialysis patient with painful hepatomegaly, chronic ascites and cachexia. The rarity of this lesion under such circumstances, if the etiologies described in the literature are taken into account, is discussed.