A multicenter study was performed to investigate the prevalence of abnormal blood contents of aluminum in hemodialysis patients and to clarify the impact of aluminum level on the clinical status of such patients.
Material and methods: Two hundred sixty five patients with end-stage renal disease from 7 dialysis centers were enrolled in this study. All patients had undergone standard hemodialysis. Venous blood samples were collected from hemodialysis patients before hemodialysis sessions. Atomic absorption spectrophotometry was applied to measure blood levels of aluminum.
Results: Out of hemodialysis patients 24.9% had high blood aluminum (>30 microg/l), and the mean was 27.4+/-43.8 microg/l in all subjects. The aluminum containing phosphate binder users had significantly higher blood aluminum levels (45.1+/-102.0 versus 15.4+/-18.9 microg/l, p<0.04). The hemodialysis subjects had low parathyroid hormone level more frequently when blood aluminum concentration was high (>30 microg/l).