What pd Research in China Tells Us

Abstract

Peritoneal dialysis (PD) was introduced in China later than in most Western countries, and PD research activity was quite limited until the 1990s. However, in the 2000s, and even more so during the last decade, there has been an unsurpassed increase in the number of PD patients, paralleled by a substantial increase in PD research activity reflected by an increasing number of PD papers from China. In this brief review, we describe some of the factors that may explain the dramatic developments in PD research in mainland China, such as the focus on basic research using scientific approaches that subsequently could be applied also in clinical studies. Another important factor was the growing interactions with international PD research centers in Hong Kong and in Western countries. Thanks to strong support from Chinese national and regional funding sources, a growing number of young Chinese researchers went to key international PD centers to learn about novel advanced research techniques. This paved the way for long-lasting, productive collaborations with benefits also for the foreign host institutions. Finally, we present some current research projects, including basic research that may contribute to the understanding of mechanisms behind complications such as peritonitis, and clinical projects aiming at improving PD management guidelines and better understanding of the potential of PD in China. Because of the size of the PD population, now the largest in the world, and the increasing number, and quality, of researchers in the PD field, PD research in China is destined to be a major contributor to advancements in PD in the near future.

Peritoneal Dialysis Care in Mainland China: Nationwide Survey

“…To our knowledge, this survey was the first nationwide study focusing on the current situation of PD management and PD practitioners’ concepts and behavior in mainland China [ 1 , 12 , 14 ]. It covered about 80% of PD centers and nearly 90% of the estimated number of current patients on PD from all provincial-level areas, according to previously published registry data [ 9 , 13 ], as well as about 70% of PD centers and 80% of patients on PD, according to unpublished CNRDS 2021 data.…”

“…It was not until the late 1990s that peritoneal dialysis (PD) started to grow rapidly in academic hospitals in large cities of mainland China [ 1 ]. Although those top PD centers gained significantly improved clinical outcomes in the late 2000s, the accumulated experiences were shared through published materials of standard operating procedure (SOP) for PD management [ 2 ] and through organized training materials [ 3 ] and courses from 2011 to 2012.…”

A Novel Management Platform Based on Personalized Home Care Pathways for Medicine Management and Rehabilitation of Persons With Parkinson's Disease—Requirements and Implementation Plan of the Care-PD Program

“…China has the largest number of persons with PD in the world, accounting for half of the total number of patients with the disease ( 24 ). Experienced neurologists are mainly located in the top three hospitals in large cities ( 25 ), and the existing medical resources fail to meet the needs of the huge PD population.…”