Slovenian renal replacement therapy registry: excerpts from the 2006 annual report

The total number of end-stage renal disease patients treated by renal replacement therapy (RRT) in Slovenia on 31 December 2006 was 1835, that is, 913 per million population (pmp). Of these patients, 1271 (69%) were treated by hemodialysis, 102 (6%) by peritoneal dialysis, and 461 (25%) had a functioning kidney graft. Two hundred and forty-nine incident patients, 124 pmp (at day one), started RRT: median age 66 years, 60% men, 30.5% diabetics. Of the hemodialysis patients, 77% were dialyzed in hospital and 23% in private dialysis centers. Hemodiafiltration was used in 38% of the hemodialysis patients. The vascular accesses were native arteriovenous fistulas in 84%, polytetrafluoroethylene grafts in 5%, and hemodialysis catheters in 11% of patients. The crude death rate of dialysis patients was 14.7%, of transplant recipients 1.35%, of both dialysis and transplant patients 11.4%. The number of patients positive for hepatitis B or C viruses is stable and low at 2.3% of the dialysis patients.