Blood volume monitoring to achieve target weight in pediatric hemodialysis patients.

Achieving dry weight during hemodialysis (HD) while minimizing symptoms is critical for optimizing patient outcome by preventing chronic fluid overload, hypertension, and cardiomyopathy. Dry weight changes frequently in children because of growth and development and waxing and waning of appetite. We have previously shown non-invasive hematocrit monitoring (NIVM) helps to decrease intradialytic symptoms, while still achieving target dry weights in children receiving chronic HD. In the current study, we prospectively evaluated an NIVM-guided ultrafiltration (UF) management algorithm to determine target dry weight in nine pediatric patients (mean age 16.6+/-2.8 years, mean weight 41.6+/-11.1 kg). Use of NIVM could potentially lead to overly aggressive UF with increased interdialytic symptoms, post treatment thirst, and interdialytic weight gain (IDWG). To evaluate the effectiveness of our NIVM UF algorithm, we studied the effect of three different NIVM-guided UF models (100%, 90%, and 80% UF models) on intradialytic and interdialytic symptoms, pre-/post-treatment blood pressure (BP), and percentage IDWG. To assess interdialytic symptoms, patients completed two questionnaires, one for each day between treatments. No statistically significant difference was seen between the three UF models with respect to intradialytic or interdialytic symptoms, pre-/post-HD BP, or percentage IDWG. Only one of nine patients received non-ACEI chronic antihypertensive medication, yet all patients had pre- and post-HD BP <95th percentile for age and height. The current study suggests that routine determination of target dry weight using NIVM and aiming for 100% UF helps to achieve the target dry weight, reduces both the risk of chronic fluid overload and the need for antihypertensive medication, and does not lead to increased intra- or interdialytic symptomatology in pediatric patients treated with chronic HD.