THE ROLE OF RENAL REPLACEMENT THERAPY QUANTIFICATION IN ACUTE-RENAL-FAILURE

The recognition that both morbidity and mortality are inversely relate d to delivered hemodialysis (HD) dose in end-stage renal disease (ESRD ) patients has substantially changed clinical practices in the United States, A number of quantification techniques, which differ greatly in complexity and sophistication, are now used in ESRD patients, Investi gators recently have attempted to extrapolate some of these ESRD quant ification methods to the acute renal failure (ARF) setting, This revie w focuses on these recent attempts, Both patient-related and renal rep lacement therapy (RRT)-related differences in ESRD and ARF are discuss ed. In addition, the potential pitfalls of extrapolating certain ESRD quantification methods to RRT in ARF are discussed. Prescription consi derations for both intermittent HD (IHD) and continuous RRT (CRRT) ape presented. The optimal technique for RRT quantification in ARF remain s to be determined. (C) 1997 by the National Kidney Foundation, Inc.