Haemodynamic alteration in patients undergoing chronic haemodialysis

Fifteen elderly patients, 13 of them undergoing chronic haemodialysis, 1 acute and 1 coming from Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis (CAPD) either with no significant cardiovascular alteration or presenting various cardiovascular pathologies were studied to investigate the possibility of onset of hypotensive episodes during dialytic treatment depending on cardiac or vascular alteration in the patients. Monitoring of the arterial pressure on the contralateral arm and on the lower limbs by using the Takeda System, made it possible to compute the Windsor Index (WI). The figures obtained were correlated to the Ejection Fraction Index (EFI) to investigate the relation between WI alteration and haemodynamic variations in the patient. The results show that cardiothoracic recirculation is much more present in those patients with pathologies that affect EFI which worsens during dialysis due to the loss of fluid. Moreover the results obtained from the two patients with temporary access and no evident cardiovascular pathology show the constancy of the haemodynamic parameters throughout the dialytic treatment.