title: Pressure and flow in the extracorporeal circuit.
abstract: The impact of pressure and flow changes in the extracorporeal circuit on dialysis efficiency in response to altered hematocrit is discussed in the light of the known properties of blood, published studies and the author's as yet unpublished measurements. Increasing the hematocrit from 0.35 to 0.45 must be expected to reduce the efficiency of urea elimination by 3-5%, which can be offset by increasing dialysis time or blood flow. The change in physical parameters thus represents no obstacle to normalizing the hematocrit. However, basing the erythropoietin dose on the predialysis hematocrit should be reconsidered.
authors.affiliation: Medical Technologist, Köstenberg, Austria.
authors.forename: H D
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Polaschegg
mesh_terms: D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D001809:Blood Viscosity; D002404:Catheterization; D006400:Hematocrit; D006801:Humans; D011312:Pressure; D006435:Renal Dialysis; D013696:Temperature