Dialysis modality selection significantly influences the risk of HCV infection experienced by end-stage renal failure patients in the Asia-Pacific region. No such association could be identified for HBV infection.

Hyponatremia is a relatively common disorder occurring in up to 6% of hospitalized patients and can occur through any mechanism that produces a relative excess of body water to body sodium. Although most hyponatremia patients are asymptomatic, severe symptomatic hyponatremia is a medical emergency that may lead to cerebral edema, tentorial herniation and death. More aggressive therapy is indicated in these patients. However, in some patients, the treatment itself may result in central nervous system demyelination that may be associated with permanent neurologic sequelae. The therapeutic strategy that should guide optimal treatment of hyponatremia requires attention to the following four factors: the patient’s volume status, the presence or absence of symptoms, duration of hypo-osmolality, and the presence or absence of risk factors for the development of neurologic complication. An initial categorization according to the clinical ECF volume status of the patient will allow a determination of the appropriate initial therapy in the majority of cases. The importance of duration of hyponatremia and the presence or absence of symptoms relates to how well the brain has adapted to the hyponatremia. The severity of hyponatremia is also an important consideration because osmotic demyelination is rarely seen in patients with the initial serum sodium greater than 120 mEq/l. Clinical surveys have identified subgroups of patients at greatest risk for developing neurologic complication of hyponatremia. Optimal therapy of these patients must consider balancing the risks of hyponatremia against the risks of correction for each patient individually. Although individual variability in response to treatment is considerable, consensus guidelines for treating hyponatremic patients allow a rational and safe therapeutic approach to minimize the neurologic complications.

Hypokalemia is a frequent problem in patients on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) and is affected by multiple factors. To evaluate factors associated with hypokalemia, we studied 68 patients on maintenance CAPD treatment for at least six months. In univariate analysis, patients with hypokalemia were associated with older age and the presence of diabetes mellitus. Serum albumin, calcium-phosphate product, triglyceride, body mass index, protein nitrogen appearance, and lean body mass assessed by creatinine kinetics were significantly lower as compared to those without hypokalemia. Serum C-reactive protein was significantly higher in the patients with hypokalemia. Multivariate stepwise linear regression analysis revealed that the serum albumin level and the ultrafiltration volume at the peritoneal equilibration test were independent factors associated with hypokalemia. This suggests that the serum potassium level may be an important nutritional marker in CAPD patients. Further longitudinal investigation is needed to clarify this relationship.

The Japanese Society of Nephrology (JSN) sponsored the Asian Forum of CKD Initiative (AFCKDI)

Malnutrition is a major complication of peritoneal dialysis (PD) and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Daily losses of proteins and amino acids (AAs) into dialysate contribute to this problem. Previous metabolic balance study demonstrated that treatment with 1.1% AA-based dialysis solution is safe and may improve protein malnutrition in continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) patients ingesting low protein intake. Other prospective studies also showed that AA solution can provide nutritional benefit for malnourished PD patients resulting in a significant improvement in some biochemical and/or anthropometric nutritional parameters. However, there are other studies showing no particular improvement in nutritional parameters after long-term use of AA solution. This may be related to the differences in the study design, sample size, methods used to assess nutritional status, and other factors such as dietary intake and comorbidities of study subjects. Published data will be reviewed to further emphasize the nutritional benefit of long-term use of AA solution in malnourished PD patients along with a brief discussion on the various reasons that may partly explain the different study results. We will also present the results of a longitudinal observational study evaluating changes in nutritional parameters following use of one exchange of 1.1% AA solution in malnourished Korean PD patients. A significant improvement of somatic protein status such as lean body mass (LBM) and hand grip strength was observed. No significant change in serum albumin level was noted. Patients with a positive estimated coefficient for LBM in the fitted regression model to the repeated observations over 1 year were classified as responders and patients with neutral or negative coefficient were considered as non-responders. Thirty-one out of 43 malnourished patients (72%) showed nutritional benefit based on the change of LBM. Hand grip strength and back lift strength were significantly higher in responders at baseline. Other baseline parameters did not differ between the two groups.