Inflammation and Nutritional Parameters in Hemodialysis Patients Using Reprocessed Dialyzers

The proposed project is an ancillary quality improvement study that intends to prospectively track serum markers of inflammation (C-reactive protein or CRP) and nutrition (pre-albumin) at baseline (within 2-months before conversion from reuse to single use of dialyzers) and at the end of a 6-month follow-up period after the conversion, in maintenance hemodialysis patients. The first 2,500 patients from a potential pool of ~2,900 patients from 48 dialysis units that are scheduled to convert from reuse to single use of dialyzers, will be included in the study. Apart from routine monthly laboratory measurements, the investigators, in collaboration with Spectra Laboratories (central lab) will perform measurements of CRP and pre-albumin on the excess blood (after all the routine blood chemistries have been obtained) from the patients selected to be part of the study cohort. It is anticipated that the nature of this study as a quality improvement project, with no additional burden to the patients since tests will only be performed on excess blood from samples already sent to the laboratory, and the utilization of the information only in aggregate with no identifiable personal health information will allow for this study to proceed without the need for informed consent from each individual patient. It is hypothesized that the survival benefit that has been observed in some epidemiological studies (including the prior experience at Fresenius Medical Care, North America) may be accompanied by and/or the result of, reduced inflammation and/or improvement of nutritional status in patients that are converted from reuse to single use of dialyzers. The study will compare the difference between the values of CRP and pre-albumin separately, at baseline and at the end of 6-months after the conversion. CRP levels are expected to decline while pre-albumin are expected to increase during the follow-up period. Even with a 20% dropout rate, the study is expected to have >90% power to detect a change in CRP of >3 mg/L and >99% power to detect a similar change in pre-albumin. The patients in this study are only a subset of a larger epidemiological study that will examine the impact of converting from reuse to single use of dialyzers on patient survival.