title: Introduction: beyond toxins removal, towards high-quality dialysis.
abstract: The choice of dialyzer may affect the dialysis process more than any other single component of the dialysis system. Over the past five decades, membranes used for the treatment of chronic kidney disease have continuously evolved, and the use of classical non-modified cellulose membranes has declined in favor of cellulose-based membranes in which the basic structure has been modified to improve the biocompatibility profile of the material as well as membranes based on synthetic polymers. Dialysis membranes with the best biological properties should be biocompatible, exclude impurities in the dialysate and have a large pore size. A high adsorptive capacity, a main feature of the polymethylmetacrylate (PMMA) membranes, is high helpful and may both increase the total amount of solutes removed and removes different kinds of solutes. Moreover, PMMA dialyzer membrane has a good chance to obtain an optimal rather than an adequate dialysis in the field of biocompatibility, immune regulation and inflammation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology and Dialysis , Scientific Institute "Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza" Hospital , San Giovanni Rotondo , Italy.
authors.forename: Filippo
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Aucella
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Dialysis and Hypertension , S.Orsola-Malpighi Hospital , Bologna , Italy.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Santoro
keywords: PMMA; adequacy; dialysis membrane; haemodialysis; quality of life