title: Echography of the inferior vena cava for estimating fluid removal from patients undergoing hemodialysis.
abstract: Echography was used to perform 118 consecutive measurements of the diameters of the inferior vena cava (IVC) in 28 chronic hemodialysis patients. There was a significant correlation between the percent changes in the IVC in the expiratory phase (dIVC-E) and the percent changes in body weight (dBW) (r = 0.620, p < 0.002, n = 118). The average IVC diameter in the expiratory phase before dialysis (IVC-E) was 15.3 +/- 4.6 mm and this value decreased gradually following ultrafiltration and reached an average diameter of 11.0 +/- 4.3 mm after dialysis. Three cases developed hypotension due to fluid removal. Their IVC-E value showed a rapid reduction below 11.0 mm in the early phase of hemodialysis, then maintained a plateau. The hypotension was attributed to hypovolemia due to excessive dehydration. Our results suggest that the IVC-E diameter in postdialysis would approach 11.0 +/- 4.3 mm, which could be interpreted as being close to the dry weight.
authors.affiliation: St. Francis Hospital, Kominemachi, Nagasaki, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kusaba
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Oda
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001810:Blood Volume; D003681:Dehydration / Q000150:complications; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007022:Hypotension / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D006435:Renal Dialysis; D018084:Ultrasonography, Interventional; D014682:Vena Cava, Inferior / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology