[Dialysis therapy in the Czech Republic in 1998 and in the future]

1. The number of dialyzation centers has not changed during the past two years. Their steep increase occurred in 1990-1995. This development made this treatment available without former limitations (on account of diagnosis and age). 2. In the dialyzed population during the last five years the number of patients in more advanced age groups is increasing. More than half the patients are older than 60 years. During this period there was a marked increase of diabetic subjects and in 1997 they accounted already for one third of the dialyzed population. 3. In the number of patients treated by haemodialysis we still lag behind the countries of the EU. An adverse indicator of the quality of treatment is the high mortality rate. 4. It is essential to ensure early dispensarization of patients with a creatinine level above 300 mumol/l in the predialyzation ambulatory department. 5. Only a very small percentage of patients is treated by peritoneal dialysis as this is not a traditional method in this country.