Effect of High-Flux Hemodialysis on Quality of Life and Neuropsychological Function in Chronic Hemodialysis Patients

The objective was to evaluate the effect of high-flux hemodialysis on quality of life, intra- and interdialytic symptoms and neuropsychological function. The study was double-blind single cross-over with random allocation to order of treatment. The patients were stable adult hospital hemodialysis patients. Both the conventional and high-flux membranes were cellulose acetate, the dialysate was bicarbonate, and dialysate sodium was held constant. The high-flux membrane had an ultrafiltration rate of 15 ml/h/mm Hg transmembrane pressure, a B12 clearance of 88 ml/min and a beta 2-microglobulin clearance of 11.4 ml/min. The values of the conventional membrane were 3.5-5.0, 34-45 and negligible. Each treatment period was 4 months. Twenty-two patients completed both phases of the cross-over. The KT/V value was higher during high-flux than conventional treatment; 1.42 versus 1.27(p < 0.05). There were no differences between high-flux and conventional treatment with respect to quality of life. Symptoms during dialysis were less severe during high-flux than conventional treatment for 12/14 items. Only 3 items reached statistical significance (0.05 > p > 0.01) and none were clinically significant. Symptoms between dialyses were less severe during high-flux than conventional treatment for 18/20 items. No single item had a statistically significant improvement but 3 had clinically important improvement. Among the 23 neuropsychological variables, none demonstrated statistically significant changes.