An Analysis of Elderly End-stage Chronic Kidney Disease Patients Who Did Not Undergo Renal Replacement Therapy in Japan

Abstract

There is little descriptive information regarding the conservative management of Japanese end-stage chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients. We carried out a retrospective case series analysis of elderly Japanese end-stage CKD patients who were hospitalized and died without the provision of renal replacement therapy (RRT) programs. A total of 25 consecutive patients followed by a nephrologist for a median of 443 days with a mean age of 81.7 ± 7.5 years were included. The most common symptom on admission was appetite loss in 17 patients (68%). Fifty percent of the patients died within 394 days of follow-up after their estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) fell below 15 mL/min/1.73 m2 and 222 days of follow-up after the eGFR fell below 10 mL/min/1.73 m2. The validity of our findings for Japanese patients with end-stage CKD must be evaluated in greater detail.