title: Pre- and posthemodialysis measures of serum albumin levels.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether there was a difference between pre- and posthemodialysis serum albumin levels and, if so, whether that difference correlated with the amount of fluid removed during treatment.
  
  
  METHODS
  This descriptive study used a comparative data analysis strategy.
  
  
  METHODS
  287 paired measurements of pre- and post-hemodialysis serum albumin levels were collected from 46 patients in a midwestern hemodialysis center.
  
  
  METHODS
  Pre- and posthemodialysis serum albumin levels were obtained using the bromcresol green method.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The pretreatment mean for serum albumin levels was 3.875 gm/dL (SD .4) and the posttreatment mean was 4.273 gm/dL (SD .599), significant at p < 0.0001. The amount of fluid removed during treatment was strongly correlated with the difference between pre- and posttreatment albumin levels (R = .6149; p < 0.0001). When data were sub-divided into three groups according to the amount of fluid removed during treatment, the mean differences between pre- and post hemodialysis albumin were significant at p < 0.0001.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The strong correlation with fluid removed during hemodialysis suggests that fluid overload may be responsible for the significantly higher posttreatment albumin values in most patients.
authors.affiliation: Gambro Healthcare of Liberty, MO, USA.
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: MacIntyre
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Redington
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016903:Drug Monitoring; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009730:Nursing Assessment; D006435:Renal Dialysis / Q000451:nursing; D012709:Serum Albumin / Q000032:analysis*; D014883:Water-Electrolyte Imbalance / Q000209:etiology
chemical_list: D012709:Serum Albumin