[Dialysis treatment of chronic renal failure]

Of the patients with chronic renal replacement therapy in Germany, only 27% are living with a functioning graft, while the other 73% are dialysis patients. At the end of 1990, there were about 30,000 patients on regular dialysis treatment in Germany. Without selection for chronic dialysis, the average age of newly accepted patients is 61 years. More than 30% of the new dialysis patients are diabetics. Intermittent haemodialysis (89.5%), intermittent haemofiltration (4.5%), and peritoneal dialysis (6%) are the different methods of chronic dialysis treatment in Germany. The 5-year-survival rate with regular haemodialysis treatment is 67%, for 50 years old patients without diabetic nephropathy (EDTA, Europe).