Mortality in peritoneal dialysis patients

The incidence of end-stage renal disease is growing. Mortality remains high, despite improvements in care. Much of this can be explained by the presence of cardiovascular disease and other co-morbid conditions that are present at the start of dialysis. However, the dialysis treatment itself may exacerbate these conditions, and dialysis related factors such as adequacy, cytokine production, and dialysis-related infections are important factors in survival. Early studies reported similar or better survival on peritoneal dialysis (compared with hemodialysis), although more recent studies have questioned this finding. This review summarizes the information on mortality in peritoneal dialysis patients.