To examine the effects of hemodialysis on the electrocardiogram, 87-lead body surface maps were performed in 38 patients with chronic renal failure, before and after hemodialysis. The patients were divided into two groups; 16 patients with coronary artery disease (CAD group), and 22 patients without ischemic heart disease (control group). Three maps were analyzed, QRS isopotential maps, isochrone maps, and QRS isointegral maps. Parameters measured were maximal R wave voltage (Peak R), minimal QRS wave voltage (Peak S), maximal ventricular activation time (VAT_max) and QRS duration (QRSd). In the control group, Peak R and Peak S increased but VAT_max decreased after hemodialysis. There were negative correlations between the changes of body weight and the changes in Peak R (r = -0.67, p < 0.01) and Peak S (r = -0.87, p < 0.001), although there were no correlations between changes in left ventricular diastolic dimension and the changes in Peak R and Peak S. In the CAD group, Peak S increased but Peak R and VAT_max did not change significantly. There were negative correlations between the change of body weight and the change of Peak S (r = -0.73, p < 0.01). The most pronounced changes in mean QRS isointegral maps on hemodialysis were an increased magnitude of positivity in the control group and negativity in the CAD group on the anterior thorax. These findings suggested that the increase in the QRS amplitude after hemodialysis was influenced by the changes of the conductivity of extracardiac thorax and the relative heart position to the chest wall rather than myocardial ischemia or ventricular conduction delay.