Dialysis Prescription and Sudden Death

Summary: In the United States, end-stage renal disease patients receiving hemodialysis have an exceedingly high risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD), accounting for 29% of death events, likely relating to their uremic milieu, recurring exposure to fluid and electrolyte fluxes, and underlying cardiovascular pathology. Furthermore, epidemiologic studies have shown that SCD events, as well as mortality and hospitalizations, occur most frequently on the first dialysis day after the long interdialytic gap, suggesting that abrupt fluctuations in the accumulation and removal of electrolytes, fluid, and uremic toxins over the dialysis cycle may be contributory.

Source: Seminars in Nephrology - November 1, 2018 Category: Urology & Nephrology Authors: Connie M. Rhee, Jason A. Chou, Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh Source Type: research