Use of high-dose hemodiafiltration improves survival in individuals with kidney failure: NEJM

Netherlands: Researchers have found in the multinational, randomized, controlled trial involving 1360 kidney failure patients that high-dose hemodiafiltration resulted in a lower risk of death than conventional high-flux haemodialysis. The study is published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Dr Blankestijn and team conducted the study for at least three months, ensuring that all the patients were eligible for a convection volume of at least 23 litres per session, requiring high-dose hemodiafiltration. Of 1360 patients enrolled, either the high-dose hemodiafiltration group (683 patients) or the high-flux hemodialysis group (677 patients) were randomly assigned.

The key findings of this study are:

• The study revealed that 17.3% of patients in the high-dose hemodiafiltration group experienced death from any cause, compared to 21.9% in the high-flux hemodialysis group.
• The hazard ratio of death from any cause for the hemodiafiltration group versus the hemodialysis group was 0.77 (95% confidence interval, 0.65 to 0.93).
• The median follow-up period was 30 months, during which the hemodiafiltration group achieved a mean convection volume of 25.3 litres per session.