title: How to assess peritoneal transport: which test should we use?
abstract: The transport characteristics of the peritoneal membrane will differ between patients, and will change over time in individual patients, which in turn will affect the fluid and solute transport kinetics of peritoneal dialysis (PD) as well as the dialysis efficiency. There are several different simplified tests available for the evaluation of peritoneal transport. The most widely used are the peritoneal equilibration test (PET) and the personal dialysis capacity test (PDC), which may give relatively detailed information about the peritoneal transport characteristics, and computer software is available for the calculation of transport coefficients as well as for simulations of therapy changes. However, for some purposes, in particular the evaluation of patients with poor ultrafiltration, other tests such as the double mini-PET will give additional information. A rough estimate of the diffusive transport can also be made from a 24-hour dialysate collection in patients on continuous ambulatory dialysis, which also of course gives the possibility to calculate different adequacy parameters. In summary, which test to use is dependent on the question and the clinical situation.
authors.forename: Olof
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Heimbürger
mesh_terms: D001692:Biological Transport / Q000502:physiology; D003404:Creatinine / Q000097:blood; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D010531:Peritoneal Dialysis, Continuous Ambulatory; D010537:Peritoneum / Q000502:physiology*; D010539:Permeability; D012984:Software
chemical_list: D003404:Creatinine; D005947:Glucose