title: Use of electron-beam sterilized hemodialysis membranes is not associated with significant  and persistent thrombocytopenia.
abstract: Significant thrombocytopenia following hemodialysis with electron-beam (e-beam) sterilized membranes has been recently reported in a large-scale Canadian study. However, the underlying mechanism and the clinical significance of this finding remain undetermined as yet. We prospectively evaluated for a 4-month period the thrombocytopenic effect of the e-beam sterilized dialyzers as compared to the steam sterilized ones in two groups of well-controlled hemodialysis patients. There were no significant differences in pre- and post-dialysis platelet counts of patients using e-beam-sterilized dialyzers compared to those using steam-sterilized ones. Furthermore, no statistically significant differences between pre- and post-dialysis platelet counts were found throughout the study in the e-beam-sterilized group. However, 1 out of 9 patients demonstrated significant post-dialysis thrombocytopenia in 2/4 measurements. In conclusion, our study data do not support a continuously occurring thrombocytopenic effect in patients dialyzed with e-beam sterilized membranes. Further studies are needed to determine whether and how the use of e-beam sterilization may impact the interaction between certain membranes and platelets.
authors: Department of Nephrology, Amalia Fleming General Hospital, 15127 Athens, Greece. vassilis.filiopoulos@hotmail.com
authors: Vassilis
authors: V
authors: Filiopoulos
authors: Nikolaos
authors: N
authors: Manolios
authors: Dimosthenis
authors: D
authors: Vlassopoulos
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D006435:Renal Dialysis / Q000009:adverse effects*; D013242:Sterilization / Q000379:methods*; D013921:Thrombocytopenia / Q000209:etiology*
chemical_list: D008567:Membranes, Artificial