MAINTENANCE OF ADEQUATE DIALYSIS IN A PATIENT WITH PERITONEAL CALCIFICATION USING TIDAL PERITONEAL-DIALYSIS

A case report of a 50-year-old woman who has been treated with periton eal dialysis for 9 years, with a short period off dialysis following t ransplantation. The patient had long-standing secondary hyperparathyro idism and had declined parathyroidectomy, she had hail two episodes of peritonitis in the preceding eight years. She presented with blood-st ained dialysate effluent and intermittent abdominal pain. Investigatio n revealed widespread peritoneal calcification with large plaques of c alcium on the visceral peritoneum. She was treated with tidal automate d peritoneal dialysis; adequate creatinine clearances have been mainta ined and the patient has had little further abdominal pain and bleedin g. In this report we have illustrated an unusual complication of perit oneal dialysis, peritoneal calcification, and suggest that tidal perit oneal dialysis is a useful therapeutic tool in such cases.