title: Temperature and thermal balance monitoring and control in dialysis.
abstract: Temperature and thermal balance have been studied in an effort to explain better tolerance of ultrafiltration during isolated ultrafiltration and other convective techniques as compared to conventional hemodialysis. The large number of published studies has led to the conclusion that negative thermal balance of the extracorporeal circuit ameliorates hemodynamic stability by increased vasoreactivity and increased peripheral resistance. On the other hand, measurement of dialysis efficiency (urea removal) did not unequivocally confirm the theoretically predicted decrease in efficiency of "cool" dialysis. Another suggested application of temperature and thermal balance for assessing bioincompatibility is currently hampered by the ability of existing technology to evaluate thermal parameters of the extracorporeal circuit only. Publications on impact of negative thermal balance of the extracorporeal circuit on ultrafiltration-induced changes in blood volume give contradictory results. Further studies are needed for elucidation of the impact of thermal balance on overall biological response to dialysis.
authors.affiliation: General University Hospital Prague, Strahov Dialysis Department, Czech Republic. f.lopot@vfn.cz
authors.forename: Frantisek
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lopot
authors.forename: Sylvie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sulková
authors.forename: Magda
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fortová
authors.forename: Bohdan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Nejedlý