ADEQUACY IN PERITONEAL-DIALYSIS IN EUROPE

Despite many technical improvements in peritoneal dialysis the drop-ou r rates remain at a high level with inadequate dialysis being a major cause. According to recent studies standard prescriptions as they are applied in most CAPD patients (4 x 21/day) are insufficient for the ma jority of patients without significant residual renal function. The pu rpose of the present multicenter cross-sectional analysis was to asses s the current clinical CAPD practice in Europe. 183 CAPD patients from 8 European countries participated and were analyzed twice within a 4- to 6-week interval for renal and peritoneal clearances. In this study , 60% of the patients received a standard prescription of 4 x 8 l/day and only 13% received more than 8 l/day. With the clearances achieved by these prescriptions, the majority of patients would be considered u nderdialyzed according to current recommendations. This demonstrates t he need to apply on a more regular basis optimized prescriptions which are individually adjusted to the specific patient's requirements.