LAUSR

Short-daily hemodialysis (HD) with low-dialysate volume is an appealing portable dialysis approach for home use. Although this type of HD has proved being effective for the volume control and the clearance of low molecular-weight uremic toxins, limited data are available on the impact on the removal rates of other uremic toxins like β2-microglobulin (β2M) or phosphate (P), whose clearance is limited by sequestration into compartments, poor diffusion, high time-dependency, or protein binding. We evaluated the impact of short-daily HD with slow dialysate flow rate on the removal of solutes of different molecular weights and distribution volumes. Single-session and weekly balances of β2M, P, urea, and creatinine were prospectively assessed with total dialysate collection and serum measurements before and after 341 dialysis sessions (mean dialysate volume: 30963 ± 862 mL; mean length of dialysis session: 153 ± 8 min) in 31 stable patients (female; 9, 29 %; mean age: 55.6 ± 13.6 y; dry weight: 74.9 ± 13.3 kg) undergoing short-daily home HD with NxStage cycler, between July 2014 and October 2019. The mean blood flow rate was 365 ± 17 mL/min, whereas the mean dialysate flow rate was 194 ± 12 mL/min. Single-session β2M, P, urea, and creatinine removals were 0.138 ± 0.050 g, 0.610 ± 0.161 g, 18.89 ± 6.07 g and 1.07 ± 0.31 g, respectively, whereas the reduction rates (%) were 38.0 ± 13.0, 46.8 ± 8.6, 48.2 ± 7.0 and 46.6 ± 6.6, for β2M, P, urea and creatinine, respectively. The estimated weekly β2M, P, urea and creatinine removals in HDD patients dialyzing 5-6 days per week were comparable with 4-h in-center thrice-weekly on-line hemodiafiltration according to previous studies (Table 1). Treating patients with short-daily HD with low-dialysate volume at a 5-6 days per week prescription may achieve an efficient weekly β2M and P removal.