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The characteristics of 5 patients who developed tuberculous peritonitis while receiving long-term peritoneal dialysis (PD) are presented. There were 2 males and 3 females. 3 patients were on intermittent and 2 were on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis when tuberculous peritonitis was first diagnosed. None of the patients had recently received immunosuppression therapy or were diabetics. The clinical presentations were similar to other forms of peritonitis complicating PD except for a more insidious onset. As extraperitoneal involvement and peritoneal lymphocytosis were rarely present, the diagnosis was mainly dependent on the direct demonstration of Mycobacterium tuberculosis with smear (1 patient) and culture (4 patients). In 1 patient with a pleuroperitoneal communication, the diagnosis was made by pleural biopsy and a positive response to antituberculous therapy. All patients responded to treatment with a combination of three antituberculous drugs which included streptomycin, isoniazid, rifampicin and pyrazinamide. Two patients were transferred to hemodialysis. In 3 patients, peritoneal dialysis was continued. Peritoneal clearance and ultrafiltration capacity were unchanged for up to 16 months after treatment in 2 patients who continued peritoneal dialysis but was reduced by 30 and 50%, respectively, in the remaining patient. Only 1 patient died, but her death was not directly related to tuberculous peritonitis. It was concluded that with a high index of suspicion and early institution of treatment, tuberculous peritonitis complicating PD can be successfully treated with low mortality and without compromising the dialysis capacity of the peritoneal membrane.

Background: Small randomized trials demonstrated that a lower compared with higher dialysate temperature reduced the average drop in intradialytic blood pressure. Some observational studies demonstrated that a lower compared with higher dialysate temperature was associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality. There is now the need for a large randomized trial that compares the effect of a low vs high dialysate temperature on major cardiovascular outcomes. Objective: The purpose of this study is to test the effect of outpatient hemodialysis centers randomized to (1) a personalized temperature-reduced dialysate protocol or (2) a standard-temperature dialysate protocol for 4 years on cardiovascular-related death and hospitalizations. Design: The design of the study is a pragmatic, registry-based, open-label, cluster randomized controlled trial. Setting: Hemodialysis centers in Ontario, Canada, were randomized on February 1, 2017, for a trial start date of April 3, 2017, and end date of March 31, 2021. Participants: In total, 84 hemodialysis centers will care for approximately 15 500 patients and provide over 4 million dialysis sessions over a 4-year follow-up. Intervention: Hemodialysis centers were randomized (1:1) to provide (1) a personalized temperature-reduced dialysate protocol or (2) a standard-temperature dialysate protocol of 36.5°C. For the personalized protocol, nurses set the dialysate temperature between 0.5°C and 0.9°C below the patient’s predialysis body temperature for each dialysis session, to a minimum dialysate temperature of 35.5°C. Primary outcome: A composite of cardiovascular-related death or major cardiovascular-related hospitalization (a hospital admission with myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, or ischemic stroke) captured in Ontario health care administrative databases. Planned primary analysis: The primary analysis will follow an intent-to-treat approach. The hazard ratio of time-to-first event will be estimated from a Cox model. Within-center correlation will be considered using a robust sandwich estimator. Observation time will be censored on the trial end date or when patients die from a noncardiovascular event. Trial Registration: www.clinicaltrials.gov ; identifier: NCT02628366.

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