THE EFFECT OF DIALYSIS ON RADIOCESIUM IN MAN

Dialysis is used for cleaning the blood in patients with end-stage ren al disease. The most common methods are hemodialysis (HD) and peritone al dialysis (PD). Dialysis patients might constitute a critical group because of poor elimination of radioactive elements ingested. On the o ther hand dialysis may be a useful decontamination method for radioact ivity. The effect of dialysis on the turnover of radiocaesium was stud ied in 10 HD patients and 4 PD patients. The dialysis fluid, which con tains electrolytes and the metabolic waste products, was analyzed for radiocaesium. In this connection the patients were whole-body counted for radiocaesium and K-40. The results show that HD patients generally have a lower body burden of radiocaesium than normal subjects, while PD patients show normal levels. At steady state both dialysis methods eliminate slightly less radiocaesium than normal kidneys do, but in th e case of HD during a much shorter time. The calculated effective half -life for radiocaesium was normal in the HD patients, and somewhat lon ger in the PD patients. Considering that HD is performed only for 12-1 5 h weekly, the elimination rate of radiocaesium by HD is much higher compared with that by normal kidneys. Thus, HD might constitute an imp ortant method for decontamination of radiocaesium after accidental int ernal contamination.