ABSTRACT
Generally, hemodialysis patients tend to have a higher prevalence and greater severity of anemia than peritoneal dialysis patients. Various factors have been suggested to explain this, including a greater degree of blood loss or hemolysis in hemodialysis patients and better removal of ‘‘middle molecules’’ inhibitory to erythropoiesis in peritoneal dialysis patients. Sequential comparative studies of changes in hemoglobin concentration after starting dialysis have shown a greater initial increase in continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) patients compared with those on hemodialysis, but after 5 years there is no longer any difference. Likewise, studies of red cell mass in hemodialysis and CAPD patients suggest that there is little difference between the two modalities of treatment (10).
