Implications of the Canada—USA (CANUSA) multicentre trial

The Canada—USA study of peritoneal dialysis was published in July 1996 [1] and has become the focus of considerable discussion related to the methodology and clinical implications of the results [2–4]. There have been five publications based on the data collected by the CANUSA study group [1, 5–8] as well as two abstracts addressing the clinical impact of peritonitis [9] and the role of residual renal function [10] in this population (Table 1). The clinical implications of the published studies include the association of adequacy of dialysis and nutritional status with clinical outcomes [1], the relationship between residual renal function at initiation of dialysis and clinical outcomes, the clearances of urea and creatinine required to maintain good nutrition [5], outcomes in patients with type I and type II diabetes mellitus [6], reasons for poorer outcomes in patients from the USA compared to Canada [7] and the poorer outcomes in patients with higher peritoneal membrane transport [8].