Active vitamin D analogs, maxacalcitol and alfacalcidol, as maintenance therapy for mild secondary hyperparathyroidism in hemodialysis patients - a randomized study.

Background: The present randomized study was designed to compare the efficacy between two active vitamin D analogs, alfacalcidol (ACD) and maxacalcitol (OCT), for the management of mild secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT) in dialysis patients.

Methods: SHPT in all 32 patients analyzed in the study was initially treated with OCT. Once patients' intact PTH levels decreased to the target range of 150 - 180 pg/mL, they were randomized either to switch to ACD at 0.

Psychiatric disorders among patients undergoing hemodialysis therapy.

We examined the incidence rates of psychiatric disorders in end-stage renal failure patients on hemodialysis (HD) based on 4-year long-term follow-up. Among various psychiatric disorders, the frequency of three psychiatric disorders, dementia, delirium, and major depression, was relatively high. One-year incidence rate of whole psychiatric disorders was 10.