Patients with End stage chronic heart disease suffer a lot. Characteristic are fluid retention, fatigue and shortness of breath. In addition to these well-known symptoms they often develop renal failure as well. This co-occurrence of heart and kidney diseases has been described as cardiorenal syndrome (CRS). Patients with advanced chronic heart disease and CRS have a poor outcome (1-year-mortality rate of up to 77%), and a poor quality of life due to hospitalizations and low functional status.
A study that has been published in the Clinical Kidney Journal analyzed the effect of peritoneal ultrafiltration in 39 patients. All-cause hospitalization was the primary endpoint, the secondary endpoints included (among others) mortality, volume overload, mental health and quality of life or NYHA functional class.
Peritoneal ultrafiltration significantly improved volume overload, NHYA functional class and mental health and reduced all-cause hospitalization days by 50%, although there was no significant difference in mortality. "Further randomized trials are needed, but according to this study peritoneal ultrafiltration improves the clinical condition of these very ill patients and adds to their quality of life" comments Prof. Alberto Ortiz, ckj´s editor-in-chief.
Study: Peritoneal ultrafiltration in end-stage chronic heart failure, Hanna Fröhlich, Hugo A. Katus, Tobias Täger, Nicole Lossnitzer, Leonie Grossekettler, Lars Kihm, Martin Zeier, Andrew Remppis, Lutz Frankenstein and Vedat Schwenger, Clinical Kidney Journal, doi: 10.1093/ckj/sfv007, published online 17 February 2015.
