Number Of Dialysis Patients Research Articles

A scoring system to screen elderly potential kidney transplant recipients: a simple tool for a complex task

Despite the rapid growth in the number of dialysis patients ⩾65, relatively few of these patients are receiving transplants. Dusseux et al. present a simple scoring system that helps to identify a group of such patients with a higher survival rate on dialysis. They suggest that such a screening tool might help to identify older patients for more comprehensive transplant assessment.

How to monitor vascular access in our hospital.

The number of dialysis patients in Japan has amounted to approximately 310,000. Most of the patients undergo hemodialysis. The reason why they can undergo hemodialysis is because maintaining and managing vascular access (VA) has improved. Recently, thanks to the progress of medical equipment, a variety of monitoring systems have been developed. It is important to make good use of these monitoring systems. In our hospital, we have been monitoring with an ultrasonic device and HD02. We measure blood flow of brachial artery with an ultrasonic device during nondialysis treatment. We examine real blood flow and blood recirculation with HD02 and evaluate the function of VA during dialysis. In order to provide good dialysis care, good use of monitoring devices of VA is significant.

ESRD management in Africa during the last decade.

This study was initiated under the auspices of the African Association of Nephrology to evaluate end-stage renal disease (ESRD) development by using data collected in 3 successive surveys performed during the last decade. Questionnaires were sent in 2004, 2006, and 2012 to national renal societies and to leading nephrologists. Data were also collected from dialysis supply companies, personal communication, and by using research on Medline, Pubmed, etc. So data could be obtained from 33 countries. During the last decade the total number of nephrologists increased from 1,022 to 2,500 in 33 countries - i.e., an average growth rate of 15% per year. But there are still few hospital units dedicated to renal healthcare. The number of dialysis units increased from 1,200 to 1,600 and the number of dialysis patients (97% on hemodialysis) grew from 36,000 to 87,400 i.e., an average growth rate of 14% per year. Peritoneal dialysis, which covers less than 3% of RRT, increased from 1,300 to 2,400 with a yearly growth rate of 8% but it is still located in few countries. Renal transplant is implemented mainly in public hospitals in 5 North African and 7 sub. Saharan and South African countries. Only 5 countries have sustained programs that perform more than 100 operations per year. During the last decade, several countries improved the quality and quantity of care offered to ESRD patients. It is hoped that there will be a sustained improvement with a greater emphasis on education and development of kidney transplantation.

Serum aldosterone levels in hemodialysis patients: a systematic review

Background : According to the data provided by the Brazilian Nephrology Society, between the years 2000 and 2011 the number of dialysis patients gradually increased. It is known aldosterone levels contribute to the onset of hypertension given the fact it is related to the increase in sodium absorption with a resultant increase of volemia. The aim of this study was to perform a systematic review regarding the relation between aldosterone levels and hemodialysis. Methods : A review was performed, based on the articles provided by databases Lilacs and Medline, with the descriptors “aldosterone” AND “hemodialysis” until the year 2014. Those articles with the descriptors in their titles or abstracts, or that evaluated the relation between aldosterone and hemodialysis in trials with humans were included. Findings : About 14 articles were excluded and 15 were included. Among the included articles, one was epidemiologic, five were clinical trials, two were prospective cohorts and seven were reviews. Conclusions : It was observed that aldosterone blockade in hemodialysis patients represents an important and safe therapeutic strategy owing to the consequent proteinuria and blood pressure reduction. These factors help reduce cardiovascular risk. Moreover, this strategy contributes to decrease renal injury, suggesting a beneficial effect on the prevention of chronic kidney disease.

An overview of regular dialysis treatment in Japan (as of 31 December 2012).

A nationwide statistical survey of 4279 dialysis facilities was conducted at the end of 2012, among which 4238 responded (99.0%). The number of new dialysis patients was 38055 in 2012. Since 2008, the number of new dialysis patients has remained almost the same without any marked increase or decrease. The number of dialysis patients who died in 2012 was 30710; a slight decrease from 2011 (30743). The dialysis patient population has been growing every year in Japan; it was 310007 at the end of 2012, which exceeded 310000 for the first time. The number of dialysis patients per million at the end of 2012 was 2431.2. The crude death rate of dialysis patients in 2012 was 10.0%, a slight decrease from that in 2011 (10.2%). The mean age of new dialysis patients was 68.5 years and the mean age of the entire dialysis patient population was 66.9 years. The most common primary cause of renal failure among new dialysis patients was diabetic nephropathy (44.2%). The actual number of new dialysis patients with diabetic nephropathy has been approximately 16000 for the last few years. Diabetic nephropathy was also the most common primary disease among the entire dialysis patient population (37.1%), followed by chronic glomerulonephritis (33.6%). The percentage of dialysis patients with diabetic nephropathy has been continuously increasing, whereas not only the percentage but also the actual number of dialysis patients with chronic glomerulonephritis has decreased. The number of patients who underwent hemodiafiltration (HDF) at the end of 2012 was 21725, a marked increase from that in 2011 (14115). In particular, the number of patients who underwent on-line HDF increased threefold from 4890 in 2011 to 14069 in 2012. From the results of the facility survey, the number of patients who underwent peritoneal dialysis (PD) was 9514 and that of patients who did not undergo PD despite having a PD catheter in the abdominal cavity was 347. From the results of the patient survey, among the PD patients, 1932 also underwent another dialysis method using extracorporeal circulation, such as hemodialysis (HD) and HDF. The number of patients who underwent HD at home in 2012 was 393, a marked increase from that in 2011 (327).

Disparities in Access to Kidney Transplantation Between Donor Service Areas in Texas

We examined the current status of pronounced disparities in waiting times to kidney transplantation (KTx) within the state of Texas first documented more than a decade ago. The state's three, geographically contiguous donor service areas (DSAs) were compared for rates of deceased donor KTx within 3 years of listing as well as population base; waiting list size; number of dialysis patients; annual eligible deaths; number and size of acute care hospitals; organ procurement organization performance; correspondence between DSA of residence versus DSA of listing; and distribution of alternative local units (ALUs). The data show that significant inequities of access to KTx are persistent, localized to one of the state's three DSAs and disproportionately affect Hispanics as well as counties with lower median family incomes. Imbalances in determinants of supply and demand, discordance between DSAs of residence versus listing and ALU dispositions dating to the 1990s were identified as underlying causes. Parity will not be established by upcoming revisions in national allocation policies that call for regionalizing initial offers of kidneys with the worst 15% of donor profile index scores and elimination of ALUs. Potential remedies include adopting more equitable maximums in waiting time differentials between DSAs within single states.

Dialysis and Quality of Dialysate in Southeast Asian Developing Countries

Background: The number of dialysis patients has been increasing in Southeast Asia, but statistical data about these patients and on the quality of dialysates in Southeast Asian dialysis facilities are still imprecise. For this study, dialysis-related statistical data were collected in Southeast Asia. Methods: A survey of the quality of dialysates was carried out at 4 dialysis facilities in Vietnam and Cambodia. The dialysis patient survey included the numbers of dialysis facilities and patients receiving dialysis, a ranking of underlying diseases causing the initiation of dialysis, the number of patients receiving hemodialysis (HD)/on-line hemodiafiltration/continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis, the number of HD monitoring devices installed, the cost of each session of dialysis (in USD), the percentage of out-of-pocket payments, and the 1-year survival rates of the dialysis patients (in percent). The dialysate survey covered the endotoxin (ET) level and bacterial count in tap water, in water filtered through a reverse osmosis system and in dialysate. Results: In each of the countries, the most frequent reason for the initiation of dialysis is diabetes mellitus. HD is usually carried out according to the ‘reuse' principle. The 1-year survival rates are 70% in Myanmar and about 90% in the Philippines and Malaysia. The ET levels in standard dialysates were satisfactory at 2 facilities. The bacterial counts in dialysates were not acceptable at any of the facilities investigated. Conclusion: There is an urgent need to teach medical workers involved in dialysis how to prepare sterile and ET-free dialysates.

Will it be Possible to Generate Kidney Tissue from Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells for Regenerative Therapy?

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is increasingly recognized as a global public health problem. The increased prevalence of CKD has led to a rise in the number of dialysis patients, and is associated with elevated morbidity and mortality due to the increased risk of cardiovascular disease [1]. Regenerative medicine strategies are highly anticipated for CKD, since patients with CKD never recover their renal function, and there are no radical treatments besides renal transplantation. With this as the goal, vigorous efforts have been made for the directed differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) [2,3] into kidney lineage cells, while research using human ESCs [4] or induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) [5,6] has not been fully developed [7]. By mimicking signals that occur during embryonic development, to the extent that they are known, a stepwise protocol was explored to differentiate pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) into clinically useful cell types in adult organs. Currently, most of the studies aiming to generate renal cells from PSCs have also adopted the strategy of mimicking renal development [7]. The kidneys are derived from an early embryonic germ layer, the intermediate mesoderm (IM) that is located between the lateral and paraxial mesoderms [8]. In vertebrates, the IM successively develops three kidneys: the pronephros, mesonephros and metanephros. The three kidneys are similar in that they consist of a basic functional unit, the nephron, although the number of nephron differs among the kidneys. The mammalian adult kidney, metanephros, is formed by the reciprocal interaction between two tissues derived from the IM, the metanephric mesenchyme and ureteric bud. The ureteric bud induces the metanephric mesenchyme to differentiate into nephrons and interstitium. The nephron progenitors in metanephric mesenchyme differentiate into epithelia constituting glomeruli, proximal or distal renal tubules, or Henle’s loop. The metanephric mesenchyme may contain at least two other precursor populations, in addition to the epithelial progenitors: vascular precursor cells that give rise to vascular and glomerular endothelia and vascular smooth muscle cells; and stromal precursors that eventually differentiate into interstitial cells within the adult kidney. The ureteric bud elaborates the lower urinary tract system, from the collecting ducts through the renal pelvis and ureters, to a part of the urinary bladder [8]. Most of the mechanisms underlying the lineage commitment, by which the IM gives rise to the metanephric mesenchyme and ureteric bud, and how the two precursors differentiate into adult renal cell types, are unknown. Further examinations will be required to elucidate the mechanisms, which will eventually help reproduce the tissues in vitro from PSCs. Our group has recently published a report on the highly efficient differentiation of human PSCs into IM cells [9]. These human IM cells have the developmental potential to further differentiate into adult and embryonic renal cells, such as glomerular podocytes, proximal renal tubular cells and ureteric bud cells. Furthermore, they can form 3D renal tubular structures when co-cultured with mouse metanephric cells in organ culture settings. However, the efficiency of tubule formation is very low, at around 5% of the organ cultures. We reasoned that this observed low efficiency resulted from the developmental immaturity of the IM cells. Therefore, our group is currently developing efficient differentiation protocols from human PSC-derived IM cells into the two kidney

Overview of Regular Dialysis Treatment in Japan (as of 31 December 2011)

A nationwide statistical survey of 4255 dialysis facilities was conducted at the end of 2011. Responses were submitted by 4213 facilities (99.0%). The number of new patients started on dialysis was 38,613 in 2011. Although the number of new patients decreased in 2009 and 2010, it increased in 2011. The number of patients who died each year has been increasing; it was 30,743 in 2011, which exceeded 30,000 for the first time. The number of patients undergoing dialysis has also been increasing every year; it was 304,856 at the end of 2011, which exceeded 300,000 for the first time. The number of dialysis patients per million at the end of 2011 was 2385.4. The crude death rate of dialysis patients in 2011 was 10.2%, which exceeded 10% for the first time in the last 20 years. The mean age of new dialysis patients was 67.84 years and the mean age of the entire dialysis patient population was 66.55 years. The most common primary cause of renal failure among new dialysis patients was diabetic nephropathy (44.3%). Diabetic nephropathy was also the most common primary disease among the entire dialysis patient population (36.7%), exceeding chronic glomerulonephritis (34.8%) which had been the highest until last year. The survey included questions related to the Great East Japan Earthquake, which occurred on 11 March 2011. The results on items associated with the Great East Japan Earthquake were reported separately from this report. The mean uric acid levels of the male and female patients were 7.30 and 7.19 mg/dL, respectively. Certain drugs for hyperuricemia were prescribed for approximately 17% of patients. From the results of the facility survey, the number of patients who underwent peritoneal dialysis (PD) was 9642 and the number of patients who did not undergo PD despite having a peritoneal dialysis catheter was 369. A basic summary of the results on the survey items associated with PD is included in this report and the details were reported separately.

Der Dialysepatient auf der Intensivstation

The number of dialysis patients needing intensive medical care is steadily increasing, mostly due to cardiovascular diseases. Of the patients 50% are admitted due to myocardial infarction, malignant arrhythmia or acute cardiac failure and many also due to hyperkalemia and acute volume overload against the background of anuria or oligouria associated with arterial hypertension and hypervolemic hypertensive pulmonary edema. The treatment of an acute cardiac syndrome is comparable to the treatment of patients with healthy kidneys and despite the significantly higher cardiovascular mortality of these patients the acute prognosis is not significantly different to non-dialysis patients. In association with hypervolemic hypertensive pulmonary edema and all forms of hyperkalemia, dialysis treatment is always necessary. In the case of complications due to infections, in particular septicemia, dialysis patients seem to profit from the general therapy guidelines for septic patients, such as early goal-directed therapy. Underdosing of antibiotics for dialysis patients with sepsis represents a substantial problem in the clinical practice and can additionally endanger these patients.

Analysis of a Single Hemodialysis on Phosphate Removal of the Internal Fistula Patients by Mathematical and Statistical Methods

Chronic kidney disease related mineral and bone disease (CKD-MBD) is a worldwide challenge in hemodialysis patients. In china, the number of dialysis patients is growing but few data are available about their bone disorders. In the current study, we aimed to evaluate the effect of clinical factors on the serum phosphorus clearance in the 80 maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients. Six clinical factors were identified for their association with the serum phosphorus clearance using the analysis of Spearman's single linear correlation, including predialysis serum phosphate level, CRR, membrane surface area of the dialyzer, effective blood flow rate, the blood chamber volume, and hematocrit. In an overall multivariate analysis, pre-P, CRR, membrane SA, and Qb were identified as independent risk factors associated with the serum phosphorus clearance. In conclusion, HD could effectively clear serum phosphorus. The analysis of CRR might help to estimate serum phosphorus reduction ratio.

Current status of dialysis therapy for ESRD patients in Korea

라 신대체요법의 현황을 발표하고 있다. 이 투석환자 현황 The Korean Society of Nephrology (KSN) launched the End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Patient Registry in 1985, and the online internet registry program was begun in 2001. The increasing number of elderly people and diabetic patients in Korea has resulted in a very rapid increase in the number of ESRD patients. The total number of dialysis patients was 50,289: 42,596 receiving hemodialysis (HD) and 7,694 receiving peritoneal dialysis (PD) at the end of 2011. The prevalence of dialysis therapy was 972.4 patients per million population (PMP), and the proportion of dialysis therapy was HD: 84.7% and PD: 15.3%. The primary causes of ESRD were diabetic nephropathy (47.1%), hypertensive nephrosclerosis (19.6%), and chronic glomerulonephritis (10.4%). The mean urea reduction ratio of hemodialysis was 68.11% in male HD patients and 74.09% in female HD patients. The mean Kt/V was 1.395 in male patients and 1.660 in female patients. The most common cause of death was cardiac arrest (26%), followed by sepsis (9.7%), cerebro-vascular accident (8.7%), respiratory infection (8.4%), and myocardial infarction (6.6%), respectively. The five-year survival rates of male and female dialysis patients were 65.3% and 68.0% in Korea.

An Overview of Regular Dialysis Treatment in Japan (As of 31 December 2010)

A nationwide statistical survey of 4226 dialysis facilities was conducted at the end of 2010, and 4166 facilities (98.6%) responded. The number of new patients introduced into dialysis was 37,512 in 2010. This number has decreased for two consecutive years since it peaked in 2008. The number of patients who died in 2010 was 28,882, which has been increasing every year. The number of patients undergoing dialysis at the end of 2010 was 298,252, which is an increase of 7591 (2.6%) compared with that at the end of 2009. The number of dialysis patients per million at the end of 2010 was 2329.1. The crude death rate of dialysis patients in 2010 was 9.8%, and has been gradually increasing. The mean age of the new patients introduced into dialysis was 67.8 years and the mean age of the entire dialysis patient population was 66.2 years. Regarding the primary disease of the new patients introduced into dialysis, the percentage of patients with diabetic nephropathy was 43.6%, which is a slight decrease from that in the previous year (44.5%). Patients with diabetic nephropathy as the primary disease accounted for 35.9% of the entire dialysis patient population, which approaches the percentage of patients with chronic glomerulonephritis as the primary disease (36.2%). The percentage of patients who had undergone carpal tunnel release surgery (CTx) was 4.3%, which is a slight decrease from that at the end of 1999 (5.5%). The decrease in the percentage of patients who had undergone CTx was significant among the patients with dialysis durations of 20-24 years (1999, 48.0%; 2010, 23.2%). A total weekly Kt/V attributable to peritoneal dialysis and their residual functional kidney was 1.7 or higher for 59.4% of patients who underwent peritoneal dialysis.

Japanese Society for Dialysis Therapy Guidelines for Management of Cardiovascular Diseases in Patients on Chronic Hemodialysis

Hideki Hirakata, Kosaku Nitta, Masaaki Inaba, Tetsuo Shoji, Hideki Fujii, Shuzo Kobayashi, Kaoru Tabei, Nobuhiko Joki, Hiroki Hase, Masato Nishimura, Shigeyuki Ozaki, Yuji Ikari, Yoshitaka Kumada, Kazuhiko Tsuruya, Shouichi Fujimoto, Tohru Inoue, Hiroyoshi Yokoi, Sumio Hirata, Kazuaki Shimamoto, Kiyotaka Kugiyama, Takashi Akiba, Kunitoshi Iseki, Yoshiharu Tsubakihara, Tadashi Tomo, and Tadao Akizawa

Overview of Regular Dialysis Treatment in Japan (as of 31 December 2009)

A nationwide statistical survey of 4196 dialysis facilities was conducted at the end of 2009, and 4133 facilities (98.5%) responded. The number of patients undergoing dialysis at the end of 2009 was determined to be 290 661, an increase of 7240 patients (2.6%) compared with that of 2008. The number of dialysis patients per million at the end of 2009 was 2279.5. The crude death rate of dialysis patients from the end of 2008 to the end of 2009 was 9.6%. The mean age of the new patients introduced into dialysis was 67.3 years old and the mean age of the entire dialysis patient population was 65.8 years old. Primary diseases such as diabetic nephropathy and chronic glomerulonephritis for new dialysis patients, showed a percentage of 44.5% and 21.9%, respectively. Based on the facilities surveyed, 84.2% of the facilities that responded to the questionnaire satisfied the microbiological quality standard for dialysis fluids for the Japanese Society for Dialysis Therapy (JSDT), with an endotoxin concentration of less than 0.05 EU/mL in the dialysis fluid. Similarly, 98.2% of the facilities surveyed satisfied another standard of the society of a bacterial count of less than 100 cfu/mL in the dialysis fluid. The facility survey indicated that the number of patients who were treated by blood purification by both peritoneal dialysis and extracorporeal circulation, such as hemodialysis, was 1720. Among the total number of patients, 24.8% were satisfied with the management target recommended in the treatment guidelines for secondary hyperparathyroidism. These standards are set by the JSDT, based on the three parameters, i.e. serum calcium concentration, serum phosphorus concentration, and serum intact parathyroid hormone concentration. According to the questionnaire, 9.8% of the patients were considered to have a complication of dementia.

Mineral and bone disease in black african hemodialysis patients: a report from senegal.

BackgroundChronic kidney disease related mineral and bone disease (CKD-MBD) is a worldwide challenge in hemodialysis patients. In Senegal, number of dialysis patients is growing but few data are available about their bone disorders.ObjectivesTo describe patterns of CKD-MBD in Senegalese dialysis patients.Patients and MethodsWe performed a cross-sectional study including patients from three dialysis centres in Senegal. Diagnosis of different types of CKD-MBD relied on clinical, biological and radiological data collected from medical records in dialysis.ResultsWe included 118 patients and 79 of them presented CKD-BMD (prevalence of was 66.9 %). Mean age of CKD-MBD patients was 47.8 ± 15.7 years (16-81 years) and sex-ratio (Male/Female) was 1.15. Secondary hyperparathyroidism was the most frequent disorder (57 patients) followed by adynamic bone disease (21 patients) and osteomalacia (1 patients). The main clinical manifestations were bone pain (17.5% of cases), pruritus (36.8% of cases) and pathological fractures (2.5% of cases). Bone biopsy was not available. Valvular and peripheral vascular calcification were present in 24.5% and 21.2% of patients respectively. Management of CKD-MBD included optimization of dialysis, calcium bicarbonate, sevelamer, vitamin D analogues and calcimimetics. The NKF/DOQI recommended levels of serum calcium, phosphate and parathormone PTH were not achieved in one third of patients. Six patients presented major cardiovascular events during their dialysis period.ConclusionsCKD-MBD are frequent in Senegalese hemodialysis patients and they are dominated by high turn-over disease. Clinical and biological manifestations are unspecific and accurate diagnoses are often difficult in absence of histomorphometry. Treatment is suboptimal for many patients in a context of limited resources.

透析液清浄化と透析装置の自動化について

According to the statistical survey carried by the Japanese Society for Dialysis Therapy at the end of 2010, the number of dialysis patients had reached to 297,126. The mean age was 66.2, and aging of this population had been progressed. Also, diabetes mellitus consists of 43.5% of all the primary diseases. Dialysis patients with complications are increasing in number, and more patients are in needs for assistance.This trend will burden onto the medical personnel more heavily, so there is growing apprehension that medical errors and accidental infections may increase. The safety requirements are becoming higher, so it is desired to secure patients' safety and to improve medical personnel's environment.In recent years, the water treatment systems to purify dialysis fluid and the fully automated dialysis system has developed to increase safety and save labor. These systems are effective to lighten the burden in current medical setting.Purifying the dialysis fluid gives more treatment options. Mass substitution hemodiafiltration (HDF) therapy, including online HDF, is enabled, so it leads to the improvement of clinical symptoms.The systems for dialysis therapy equip various membranes, such as RO membranes, UF membranes, and dialyzers. This report explains the utilization of each system.

Dialysis Patients and Critical Illness

Dialysis patients account for 1%-9% of all intensive care unit (ICU) admissions. As a result of the increasing prevalence of patients treated with long-term dialysis and the changing demographics of this population, the number of dialysis patients requiring hospitalization and ICU support is expected to increase. Critically ill dialysis patients have more comorbid conditions and higher severity of illness than the general population, resulting in higher ICU and in-hospital mortality rates, but lower than for critically ill patients with acute kidney injury, suggesting that illness severity may contribute more to adverse outcomes than dialysis status. This review focuses on the epidemiology, prognosis, and short- and long-term outcomes of long-term dialysis patients admitted to the ICU, with data suggesting that dialysis patients have reasonable outcomes after ICU admission compared with the general population. It is important to recognize that illness severity and comorbid conditions rather than dialysis status account for much of the observed differences in short-term mortality rates. There are limited data to guide decision making regarding which dialysis patients may benefit from ICU admission, with common prognostic scoring systems routinely overestimating mortality in dialysis patients.

Overview of Regular Dialysis Treatment in Japan (as of 31 December 2008)

A nationwide statistical survey of 4124 dialysis facilities was conducted at the end of 2008 and 4081 facilities (99.0%) responded. The number of patients undergoing dialysis at the end of 2008 was determined to be 283,421, an increase of 8179 patients (3.0%) compared with that at the end of 2007. The number of dialysis patients per million at the end of 2008 was 2220. The crude death rate of dialysis patients from the end of 2007 to the end of 2008 was 9.8%. The mean age of the new patients begun on dialysis was 67.2 years and the mean age of the entire dialysis patient population was 65.3 years. For the primary diseases of the new patients begun on dialysis, the percentages of patients with diabetic nephropathy and chronic glomerulonephritis were 43.3% and 22.8%, respectively. Among the facilities that measured bacterial count in the dialysate solution in 2008, 52.0% of facilities ensured that a minimum dialysate solution volume of 10 mL was sampled. Among the patients treated by facility dialysis, 95.4% of patients were treated three times a week, and the average time required for one treatment was 3.92 ± 0.53 (SD) h. The average amounts of blood flow and dialysate solution flow were 197 ± 31 and 487 ± 33 mL/min, respectively. The number of patients using a polysulfone membrane dialyzer was the largest (50.7%) and the average membrane area was 1.63 ± 0.35 m(2). According to the classification of dialyzers by function, the number of patients using a type IV dialyzer was the largest (80.3%). The average concentrations of each electrolyte before treatment in patients treated with blood purification by extracorporeal circulation were 138.8 ± 3.3 mEq/L for serum sodium, 4.96 ± 0.81 mEq/L for serum potassium, 102.1 ± 3.1 mEq/L for serum chloride, and 20.7 ± 3.0 mEq/L for HCO(3) (-) ; the average serum pH was 7.35 ± 0.05. Regarding the type of vascular access in patients treated by facility dialysis, in 89.7% of patients an arteriovenous fistula was used and in 7.1% an arteriovenous graft was used. The percentage of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-positive patients who were HCV-negative in 2007 was 1.04%; the percentage is particularly high in patients with a period of dialysis of 20 years or longer. The risk of becoming HCV-positive was high in patients with low serum creatinine, serum albumin, and serum total cholesterol levels, and/or a low body mass index before beginning dialysis.

An Overview of Regular Dialysis Treatment in Japan (As of 31 December 2007)

A nationwide statistical survey of 4098 dialysis facilities was conducted at the end of 2007, and 4052 facilities (98.88%) participated. The number of patients undergoing dialysis at the end of 2007 was determined to be 275 242, an increase of 10 769 patients (4.1%) compared with that at the end of 2006.The number of dialysis patients per million at the end of 2007 was 2154. The crude death rate of dialysis patients at the end of 2007 from the end of 2006 was 9.4%. The mean age of new patients begun on dialysis was 66.8 years and the mean age of the entire dialysis patient population was 64.9 years. For the primary diseases of new patients begun on dialysis, the percentages of patients with diabetic nephropathy and chronic glomerulonephritis were 43.4% and 23.8%, respectively. The percentages of facilities that achieved the control standard of endotoxin concentration in the dialysate solution of <0.05 EU/mL and those that achieved a bacterial count of <100 cfu/mL in the dialysate solution, as specified by the Japanese Society for Dialysis Therapy, were 93.6% and 97.4%, respectively. The percentage of patients positive for the hepatitis C virus antibody among the entire dialysis population significantly decreased from 15.95% at the end of 1999 to 9.83% at the end of 2007. The mean hemoglobin concentration in all the dialysis patients at the end of 2007 was 10.27 (+/-1.32, SD) g/dL, which has scarcely changed over the last three years. The numbers of male and female patients with a history of hip fracture were 142.9 and 339.0 per 10 000 dialysis patients, respectively, showing an extremely high prevalence among female patients. A history of hip fracture correlates with a low body mass index, serum albumin concentration, and a history of diabetes. The serum creatinine level of patients upon introduction to dialysis was 8.34 (+/-3.55) mg/dL, and the estimated glomerular filtration rate was 5.43 (+/-3.43) mL/min/1.73 m(2) for the patients who were newly begun on dialysis in 2007.