Neurocognitive function in chronic hemodialysis patients

We administered a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery, including measures of intelligence, immediate and delayed memory, attention and mental processing speed, language abilities, complex problem solving, motor skills, and depression, to 16 well-dialyzed (Kt/Vurea = 1.46 +/- 0.24) patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and 12 age- and education-matched medical controls. We observed no clear neuropsychological deficits in these ESRD patients who had low average intelligence and limited educational achievement, and hypothesize that previously observed apparent deficits resulted either from very low dialysis delivery or comparison with poorly-matched historical controls. There were significant deficits in language ability and intelligence in ESRD patients with higher than median scores on the Beck Depression Inventory compared with less-depressed ESRD patients. However, this effect of depression did not result in differences between dialysis and non-ESRD patient groups.