title: The self-locating catheter: clinical experience and follow-up.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The self-locating catheter invented by Nicola Di Paolo has been used increasingly in Italy and elsewhere since 1994, with about a thousand patients currently implanted every year. Twelve grams of tungsten inserted into the tip of the conventional Tenckhoff catheter during extrusion does not significantly change its form, but suffices to keep the tip firmly in the Douglas cavity.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of the present study was to confirm our preliminary results in a large population of peritoneal dialysis patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  16 Italian nephrology departments.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In addition to confirming the validity of the new catheter, the present results show that patients with the new catheter have fewer episodes of peritonitis, tunnel infection, cuff extrusion, catheter malfunction, obstruction, and leakage.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present multicenter control study confirms preliminary results and demonstrates that complications of peritoneal dialysis, such as cuff extrusion, infection, peritonitis, early leakage, and obstruction, are statistically less frequent in patients with self-locating catheters than in patients with classic Tenckhoff catheters.
authors.affiliation: Nephrology, University Hospital, Siena, Italy. N.DiPaolo@ao-siena.toscana.it
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Di Paolo
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Capotondo
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sansoni
authors.forename: Valerio
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Romolini
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Simola
authors.forename: Enzo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gaggiotti
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bercia
authors.forename: Umberto
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Buoncristiani
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Canto
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Concetti
authors.forename: Amedeo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: De Vecchi
authors.forename: Pasquale
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fatuzzo
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Giannattasio
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: La Rosa
authors.forename: Teodoro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lopez
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lo Piccolo
authors.forename: Marcello
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Melandri
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Vezzoli
authors.forename: Ersilia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Orazi
authors.forename: Alfonso
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pacitti
authors.forename: Adriano
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ramello
authors.forename: Franco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Russo
authors.forename: Marcello
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Napoli
authors.forename: Maria Cristina
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Tessarin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002408:Catheters, Indwelling / Q000009:adverse effects*; D020878:Device Removal; D004867:Equipment Design; D004868:Equipment Failure; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005548:Foreign-Body Migration / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010530:Peritoneal Dialysis; D014414:Tungsten
chemical_list: D014414:Tungsten