DIALYSIS DECISIONS AND THE ELDERLY

It is ironic that the patients who were specifically excluded from dia lysis at its inception, the elderly, are now the fastest growing segme nt of the dialysis population. Just because it is possible to dialyze elderly patients does not mean that it should be done. This article re views the following topics as they relate to decisions about dialysis treatment in elderly people-medical outcomes, age as a selection crite rion, allocation of scarce resources, and withholding and withdrawing dialysis-and presents an approach to reaching decisions about treatmen t of renal failure in the elderly.