Background: Intradialytic hypotension (IDH) is a common clinical trait in hemodialysis (HD) which is caused by poor biocompatibility of the dialyzer membrane. Aiming to improve IDH, vitamin E-bonded polysulfone dialyzer (VPS-H) was evaluated in a pilot study.
Methods: Eight IDH patients on standard HD were switched from their conventional high-flux dialyzers to VPS-H, and intradialytic blood pressure (BP) was monitored regularly for 10 months.
Results: The results showed that hypotension of systolic BP (SBP), diastolic BP (DBP) and pulse pressure (PP) during the session were improved after changing the dialyzer. Notably, almost all the values recorded from 120 minutes into the session until the end of the treatment in the period between the second and tenth month after treatment were significantly different from the corresponding baseline values. Moreover, after 8 to 10 months, the SBP prior to a dialysis session was significantly reduced compared with baseline values. On the other hand, the pulse rate showed no difference throughout the study period.
Conclusions: This study provides early evidence of the beneficial role that vitamin E-bonded dialyzers may have in preventing IDH. Larger controlled trials are needed to confirm this original finding.