Background: The number of patients on peritoneal dialysis (PD) in our hospital has increased during the past 5 years, but the number discontinuing PD has also increased. The purpose of this study was to identify the risk factors for PD discontinuation by analyzing the association between technical survival period (defined as the duration of PD) and various clinical factors.
Methods: We retrospectively investigated 87 patients who were started on PD at our hospital and attended regularly from April 2015 to March 2020, and we analyzed the association between technical survival period and various clinical factors. We also looked for associations between technical survival period and hospitalizations for heart failure, peritonitis, and exit-site infections among patients undergoing PD.
Results: The patients using renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitors (RASi) (P = 0.0218), those with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) > 50% (P = 0.0194) when they started PD, and those with estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) ≥ 6 (mL/min/1.73 m2) (P = 0.0013) at the initiation of PD showed significantly longer technical survival period, and those who were hospitalized for heart failure had significantly shorter period (P = 0.0008).
Conclusion: Treatment of RASi, LVEF > 50% and eGFR ≥ 6 mL/ min/1.73 m2 when the initiation of PD and better volume control to prevent ultrafiltration failure and heart failure may improve technical survival period in patients undergoing PD.
Keywords: heart failure; peritoneal dialysis; renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitors; technical survival; ultrafiltration failure.