Mixed hemodiafiltration reduces erythropoiesis stimulating agents requirement in dialysis patients: a prospective randomized study.

Background: Improved responsiveness to erythropoiesis stimulating agents (ESAs) in patients on on-line post-dilution hemodiafiltration (Post-HDF) compared with conventional hemodialysis (HD) was reported by some authors but challenged by others. This prospective, cross-over randomized study tested the hypothesis that an alternative infusion modality of HDF, mixed-dilution HDF (Mixed HDF), could further reduce ESAs requirement in dialysis patients compared to the traditional Post-HDF.

Methods: One-hundred-twenty prevalent patients from 6 Dialysis Centers were randomly assigned to two six-months treatment sequences: A-B and B-A (A, Mixed HDF; B, Post-HDF).