Advances in End-Stage Renal Diseases 2001
International Conference on Dialysis III, January 18–19, 2001, Miami Beach, Fla.
Editors: Nathan W. Levin, New York, N.Y.; Claudio Ronco, Vicenza

Paper

Should the Hematocrit (Hemoglobin) Be Normalized in Pre-ESRD or Dialysis Patients? Yes!
Anatole Besarab, Mohammad Asim Aslam

Section of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, West Virginia University School of Medicine, Morgantown, W. Va., USA

Address of Corresponding Author

Blood Purif 2001;19:168-174 (DOI: 10.1159/000046935)

  Abstract

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The major issues regarding recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEpo) use in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), particularly those receiving dialysis, have been cost-effectiveness, dosage, route of administration and resistance to therapy [1]. Anemia management has been optimized by using the subcutaneous route [2] and by using intravenous iron in a timely fashion [3, 4]. Optimal treatment of anemia has assumed greater importance with the increasing age of the end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and progressive CKD (pCKD) populations. This fast-growing segment is increasingly composed of diabetic patients and has more frequent and greater degree of ischemic heart and peripheral vascular disease. Those with pCKD all too often present for dialysis with well-established comorbidities of uremia, such as anemia, left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), congestive heart failure, malnutrition, or debilitation. It is the purpose of this discourse to make the argument that many of these comorbidities, often seen as inevitable components of kidney failure, could be prevented if relatively normal hemoglobin concentration were maintained during the entire period of pCKD.

Copyright © 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel

  Author Contacts

Anatole Besarab, MD
Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine
Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center, HSS 1264
PO Box 9165, Morgantown, WV 26506 (USA)
Tel. +1 304 293 2551, Fax +1 304 293 7373, E-Mail abesarab@hsc.wvu.edu

  Article Information

Number of Print Pages : 7
Number of Figures : 0, Number of Tables : 0, Number of References : 61