[Clinical effects of six-month short time biofiltration]

The clinical effects of six-month short time biofiltration (SBF) were evaluated using a B-A-B' study (B, B': conventional bicarbonate hemodialysis; CBHD, A:SBF) in ten patients maintained on CBHD three times a week. An F80 hemodiafilter (1.9 m2, polysulfone, Fresenius) was used. In addition to routine clinical parameters for a patient on regular dialysis treatment, plasma von Willebrand factor antigen (vWF) (an index of stimulation of vascular endothelium), and the methylguanidine/creatinine ratio (MG/Cr) and malondialdehide (MDA) (indices of the levels of oxygen radicals), were evaluated. Nine patients completed the study, one patient dropping out at the 12th week of A because of muscle cramps during SBF. The treatment time was 2 hours in six cases and 2.5 hours in three cases. The mean blood flow rate was 280 +/- 42 (SD) minutes. Using the urea kinetics model, the mean KT/V was 1.26 +/- 0.28, and the mean protein catabolic rate was 1.22 +/- 0.18 g/kg body weight/day at the end of A. No change in ultrafiltration, blood pressure, cardiac function (assessed by echocardiography), CTR, human atrial natriuretic peptide, total protein, albumin, uric acid, serum creatinine, sodium, calcium, inorganic phosphorus, vWF, or MDA was found between each period. Blood urea nitrogen, c-PTH, and MG/Cr increased during the A period. Serum magnesium and beta-2 microglobulin decreased during the A period. Blood gas results, on the whole, did not change. In a patients, however, acidosis gradually developed. An increase in substitution fluid from 5 L/session to 7.5 L/session improved the acid-base balance in that patient. In conclusion, SBF is as effective as CBHD in removing small molecules and maintaining cardiocirculatory status, and is superior to CBHD in removing beta 2-microglobulin and is less stimulative to the endothelium than CBHD.