Early mortality in dialysis and adequacy of predialysis renal care: the picture is more complex than we thought.

Abstract

Two new studies examine clinical events during early dialysis. Foley et al. underline a probable ascertainment bias affecting the mortality rate during the first 6 weeks and find that age is the major risk factor for very early mortality, which can be amplified by short time of predialysis nephrology care. Singhal et al. show that adequacy of predialysis renal care is determined not only by the timing of the nephrology referral but also by the number and timing of visits.