title: Treatment of end-stage renal disease in central and eastern Europe: overview of current status and future needs.
abstract: The situation of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients in central and eastern Europe was very poor for many years during the so called socialistic era. Economical and political liberation resulted in the significant growth of renal replacement facilities in this region. The number of hemodialysis units increased significantly (56%) during the period 1990-1996, and the number of patients treated with this modality has risen by 75%. More dramatic progress was achieved in peritoneal dialysis. The number of units performing this method of renal replacement therapy (RRT) increased by 277% and the number of patients by more than 300%. Not only quantitative but also qualitative changes were observed. More modern hemodialysis machines installed in the vast majority of units allow for the performance of bicarbonate dialysis, controlled ultrafiltration, and sodium profile modeling. Also, a wider choice of biocompatible dialyzers has become available during the last few years. The number of centers performing renal transplantation has increased significantly, but the number of renal transplants has not followed this progress. Despite all the progress, further development of all RRT methods is necessary to achieve acceptance rates comparable to those observed in developed countries.
authors.affiliation: Central and Eastern European Advisory Board in Chronic Renal Failure, Gdańsk, Poland.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rutkowski
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ciocalteu
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Djukanovic
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kiss
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kovac
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Polenakovic
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Puretic
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rozental
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stanaityte
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tareyeva
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Teplan
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zavitz
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Stefan
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rado
mesh_terms: D005060:Europe; D005061:Europe, Eastern; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000191:economics / Q000628:therapy*; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010530:Peritoneal Dialysis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011634:Public Health / Q000191:economics; D006435:Renal Dialysis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017582:Renal Replacement Therapy / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends