Left ventricular hypertrophy in incident dialysis patients randomized to treatment with hemofiltration or hemodialysis: results from the ProFil study.

Introduction: Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is present in a majority of hemodialysis (HD) patients and is among the strongest risk factors for cardiovascular events and mortality. Hemofiltration (HF), a purely convective dialysis treatment, has been associated with enhanced hemodynamic stability compared with HD, possibly as a result of a more physiologic removal of fluid and solutes.

Methods: In a randomized controlled study conducted at ten dialysis centers in Sweden and Denmark, incident patients (HD <3 months) without clinical signs or history of cardiovascular disease were randomized to treatment with either online, predilution HF or low-flux HD.

The postdialytic rise in the plasma total homocysteine concentration is delayed.

Background/aims: The mechanism behind the uremic hyperhomocysteinemia has not been elucidated. Possibly, dialyzable uremic toxins play a role, e.g.