[Online hemodiafiltration: is it really more expensive?]

Online hemodiafiltration has been shown to have many benefits in terms of morbi-mortality and to increase middle weight molecules removal. However, this technique is supposed to have an additional cost which may be an obstacle to increase its development in hemodialysis centers. The aim of the study is to achieve an accurate pharmaco-economic evaluation for determining the real overcost of online hemodiafiltration (OL-HDF) in comparison with high flux hemodialysis (HF-HD) using standard priming. We have identified the additional costs related to the consumables and monitors and the additional costs imposed by the technique itself (water consumption and microbiological analysis). In the center, more than 28,000 sessions per year are performed with 70% in OL-HDF (90% post-dilution). The consumable overcost ranges from -2.55 to +3.35 euros per session depending on the monitor and on the HDF modality. The overcost of microbiological analysis is +1.1 euros per session. The theoretical additional water consumption is calculated from different dialysat flow rates and OL-HDF modality. Its ranges from +50.8L to +74.8L per session increasing the water overcost from +0.15 to +0.23 euros per session. This accurate evaluation shows that the cost difference of OL-HDF depends on monitor used and on the OL-HDF modality. In our center, it ranges from -1.29 to +4.58 euros per session.