Urea kinetics with dialyzer reuse--a prospective study.
UNLABELLED: We performed a prospective study to examine the impact of dialyzer reuse on KT/V under rigidly standardized conditions on 3 membrane types. Heparin dosage was standardized with ACT during an eight week run-in period and remained unchanged through the study. Post dialysis BUN and weight were obtained at five minutes after exactly 80 +/- 0.5 l of blood were processed through the dialyzer. Dialyzers were reused after automated glutaraldehyde processing and after ensuring >80% open fiber bundles. Each membrane type was utilized 3 times on a set of 3 patients; each individual dialyzer was reused 8 times. KT/V was done on the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 8th uses of each dialyzer (36 measurements) starting mid week; BUN measurements were grouped. The KT/V (mean +/- SD) for the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 8th uses of the cellulose acetate dialyzer were 1.3 +/- 0.2, 1.3 +/- 0.3, 1.3 +/- 0.2, 1.3 +/- 0.2 respectively; the corresponding values of the cuprophane dialyzer were 1.4 +/- 0.3, 1.4 +/- 0.3, 1.3 +/- 0.4, 1.3 +/- 0.3 respectively; and those of the polysulfone dialyzer 1.7 +/- 0.3, 1.6 +/- 0.2, 1.6 +/- 0.2 respectively. By a 3 way ANOVA there were no significant differences between the 1st and subsequent uses of any of the dialyzers tested. CONCLUSIONS: Reuse of dialyzers up to 8 times does not result in a loss of urea clearance. We believe this model is useful for further studies on reuse and quality assurance.