Alternate-day dialysis may be needed for hemodialysis patients.

Abstract

Zhang et al. studied the relationship between day of the week and all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in the United States, Europe, and Japan. The study confirms findings of studies of US patients that risk of all-cause and cardiac mortality is higher after a long interdialytic interval, and shows that this is also true in Europe and Japan. Alternate-day dialysis may improve patient survival on hemodialysis, but randomized trials are necessary to establish a new schedule.