Orth America. There is also increasing interest in metabolic complications of PD and in glucose-sparing strategies to reduce the risk for hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinemia, and hyperleptinemia. This clinical commentary focuses on these noninfectious complications of PD....

Coronary artery calcification (CAC) is highly prevalent among dialysis patients and is associated with increased cardiovascular and all cause mortality. Magnesium (Mg) inhibits vascular calcification in animal and in-vitro studies but whether the same effect occurs in humans is uncertain. A single centre cross-sectional study of 80 prevalent peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients; on PD only for a minimum of 3 months. A radiologist blinded to patient status calculated their abdominal aortic calcification (AAC) scores on lateral lumbar spine radiographs, a validated surrogate for CAC. Eighty patients provided informed consent and underwent lumbar spine radiography. The mean serum Mg was 0.8 mmol/L (standard deviation 0.2) and mean AAC score 8.9 (minimum 0, maximum 24). A higher serum Mg level was associated with a lower AAC score (R 2 = 0.06, unstandardized coefficient [B] = −7.81, p = 0.03), and remained after adjustment for age, serum phosphate, serum parathyroid hormone, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, smoking history, and diabetes (model adjusted R 2 = 0.36, serum Mg and AAC score B = −11.44, p = 0.00). This translates to a 0.1 mmol/L increase in serum Mg being independently associated with a 1.1-point decrease in AAC score. Our findings suggest that Mg may inhibit vascular calcification. If this association is replicated across larger studies with serial Mg and vascular calcification measurements, interventions that increase serum Mg and their effect on vascular calcification warrant further investigation in the PD population.

Background. Our centre uses a modification of the Moncrief technique of embedding peritoneal dialysis (PD) catheters. We undertook this study to test the hypothesis that catheter survival on PD is a function of the time a catheter is left embedded prior to use. Methods. Data were retrospectively abstracted from review of patient records of those who received a first PD catheter over a 5-year period. Patients were divided into tertiles based on the number of days between insertion of the catheter and exteriorization to create three equal groups representing early (group 1, 11–47 days), mid (group 2, 48–133 days) and late (group 3, 134–2041 days) exteriorization strategies. Results. 435 embedded PD catheters were inserted, 349 were exteriorized and total observation period was 5624 patient-months. Time to catheter loss was shortest in group 1 and longest in group 2 (P = 0.04). The overall rate of primary catheter failure was 6% and was significantly different in the three groups (6.9% in group 1, 1.7% in group 2 and 9.4% in group 3, P = 0.04). The time to first episode of peritonitis was longest in group 3 and shortest in group 1 (group 1 versus group 3, P = 0.009; group 2 versus group 3, P = 0.03). Adjusted peritonitis rates, however, were not different between the three groups. Conclusions. Mechanical complications and catheter loss are associated with the length of time a catheter is embedded. We recommend insertion 6 weeks to 5 months ahead of the need for PD to maximize catheter survival.

R with continuous ambulatory PD (CAPD) as compared with continuous cyclic PD (CCPD) after adjusting for membrane transport status. Design, setting, participants, & measurements: In this cross-sectional and retrospective study, measurements of peritoneal phosphate clearance of 129 prevalent PD patients were reviewed. Patients were divided according to membrane transport status (high, high average, low average-low categories) and PD modality (CAPD or CCPD). Results: Among high transporters, peritoneal phosphate clearances were comparable in both modalities. However, treatment with CAPD was associated with increased peritoneal phosphate clearance compared with CCPD among high-average transporters (42.4 ± 11.4 versus 36.4 ± 8.3 L/wk/1.73 m2, P = 0.01), and low-average-low transporters (35.6 ± 5.9 versus 28.9 ± 11 L/wk/1.73 m2, P = 0.034). On multivariate linear regression, PD modality, membrane transport category, and peritoneal creatinine clearance, but not Kt/V urea, were independently associated with peritoneal phosphate clearance. Conclusions: Peritoneal phosphate clearance is determined by PD modality and membrane transport category, suggesting that PD regimes with longer dwell times may help control hyperphosphatemia in lower transporters....