Nephrol Dial Transplant (2001) 16: 905-912
© 2001 European Renal Association-European Dialysis and Transplant Association
Special Feature
The un-physiology of peritoneal dialysis solution and the peritoneal membrane: from basic research to clinical nephrology
1 Vicenza 2 Torino 3 Verona 4 Cardiff 5 Pavia 6 Hechingen 7 Mestre-Venezia 8 London 9 Genova 10 Tübingen 11 Erlangen-Nürnberg and 12 Padova
La Greca: Peritoneal dialysis (PD), haemodialysis, and transplantation are the possible modes of renal replacement therapy and I have been convinced for many years that all three should be offered to ESRD patients as an integrated set of treatment modalities.
Recent studies comparing PD and haemodialysis patients demonstrated that both are equally effective, and that results within 5 years of starting replacement therapy in terms of survival, rehabilitation, and quality of life were comparable.
So, in agreement with Coles and Williams [1], I believe that in the absence of absolute contraindications, PD is the first choice for ESRD patients because it is less expensive than HD and, being a home treatment, does not require an excessive increase in the number of dialysis units. PD moreover represents an excellent parking area for patients awaiting transplantation. Therefore, every effort must be made to preserve the integrity and function of the
Acknowledgments
Notes
References