Erythropoietin and improvement of anemia in long-term hemodialysis patients.

Two groups, with 4 patients each were selected for study out of 155 patients on regular hemodialysis (HD): Group I, with hematocrit (PCV) less than 20% and group II, with PCV greater than 30%. The patients in both groups had been anemic at the start of HD treatment, but a significant improvement in their anemia had occurred only among the patients in the Group II. The main difference between the two patient groups, other than the degree of anemia, was found to be in serum erythropoietin (Ep) levels.

Amino acid supplemented diet vs. selective low protein diet in chronic renal failure.

Two groups of patients with chronic renal failure (creatinine clearance 13 ml/min) were treated with two different low protein diets: unselected protein diet with 0.35 g of protein/kg/day supplemented with amino acids (first group; 10 patients) and selective protein restricted diet with 0.6 g/kg/day of high biologically valuable proteins (second group; 9 patients).