Telemedicine in patients on automated peritoneal dialysis

The two dialysis modalities - hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis (PD) - h ave a remarkably different distribution in various countries around the glo be. Venezuela has 80% PD patients, The Netherlands 35%, whereas, for exampl e, Germany lags far behind with 6%. These differences can neither be explai ned exclusively by socio-economic factors, nor by differences in knowledge among treating nephrologists. One of the major misunderstandings is that PD may only be applicable for a limited amount of time and only in a target group of patients showing a str ong compliance, since close monitoring is not possible. Telemedicine now gi ves us the tool to control our home-based patients on automated peritoneal dialysis as though they were treated in-center. We have over 18 months' exp erience now with the integrated package here presented. Transfer of therapy data from the patients' homes to the center was performed either using a P C card, which the patient brought to the hospital for each visit, or via mo dem. Our positive results bring us to the conclusion that in our country PD could be boosted by another 10%. The 45% PD penetration that hence would b e achieved should be extrapolated to countries with low PD penetration like Germany or Austria.