Yeoungjee Cho

By Usman Mahmood, Yeoungjee Cho and David W. Johnson

Conventional peritoneal dialysis (PD) solutions are characterized by several undesirable characteristics, including acidic pH (5.2–5.5), high glucose concentrations (13.6–42.5 g/L), hyperosmolarity (360–511 mOsm/kg) and relatively high concentrations of glucose degradation products (GDPs). These characteristics have been shown to result in adverse clinical outcomes, including acute peritoneal membrane toxicity (manifested as inflow pain), chronic peritoneal toxicity (including membrane failure, ultrafiltration failure, peritonitis and encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis) and adverse systemic sequelae (including hyperglycaemia, dyslipidaemia, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease and residual renal function decline). Consequently, there has been a great interest in manufacturing newer solutions with more ‘biocompatible’ features to mitigate these adverse effects. This has led to the development of neutral‐pH, low or ultralow GDP solutions, glucose‐sparing PD solutions (icodextrin and amino acid solutions), solutions using alternative osmotic agents (such as hyperbranched polyglycerol) and low‐sodium PD solutions. The aim of this chapter is to provide an up‐to‐date comprehensive review of all types of PD solutions that are currently available, including their impact on patient‐level outcomes.

Part of the book: Some Special Problems in Peritoneal Dialysis

By Melissa Nataatmadja, Yeoungjee Cho, Katrina Campbell and David W. Johnson

Indoxyl sulphate (IS) and p-cresyl sulphate (PCS) are products of proteolytic bacterial fermentation by gut microbiota. They accumulate in the sera of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and have been associated with CKD progression and cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. Therapeutic strategies for lowering IS and PCS include increased clearance (enhanced dialysis), gastrointestinal sequestration (oral adsorbents), reduced synthesis (dietary protein restriction, dietary fibre augmentation and pre-, pro- or synbiotics), antioxidants and organic anion transporter modulators. This review will discuss the roles of IS and PCS as therapeutic targets and examine the clinical evidence for different treatment options and their effects on CKD and cardiovascular disease risk. We will include our group’s research with pre-, pro- and synbiotic interventions to mitigate serum uraemic toxin accumulation and modify cardiovascular and renal risk.

Part of the book: Chronic Kidney Disease

By Samantha Ng, Yeoungjee Cho, Htay Htay and David W. Johnson

Peritoneal dialysis (PD)-related complications and outcomes have been shown to be influenced by both patient- and centre-level factors. There is a significant variability in outcomes across different centres, which is not explained by patient factors alone. This chapter aims to evaluate those modifiable centre-level factors that have been shown to impact PD outcomes, focussing specifically on peritonitis and technique failure, and the evidence that addressing these centre effects may lead to appreciable improvements in PD patient outcomes. Peritonitis rates have been shown to be related to a centre’s degree of automated PD (APD) use, extent of icodextrin use, performance of home visits prior to PD commencement, the presence of a specialised PD nurse and duration of PD training. Better peritonitis outcomes have been shown to be associated with larger centre size, greater share of PD patients among dialysis cohorts and treatment of peritonitis with comprehensive empiric antimicrobial therapy. PD technique failure has been shown to be related to centre size and degree of PD experience. Although there is little evidence currently available to demonstrate that prospectively modifying centre factors improves PD outcomes, an Australian continuous quality improvement initiative has been associated with progressively improved peritonitis and technique failure outcomes.

Part of the book: Evolving Strategies in Peritoneal Dialysis