The impact of residual renal function and total body water volume on achieving adequate dialysis in CAPD.

AIMS: The objective is to evaluate the impact of residual renal function (RRF) and total body water (TBW) on achieving adequate dialysis. METHODS: Sixty three CAPD patients performing four 2 liter exchanges daily were evaluated for RRF, total weekly Kt/V (TWKt/V), total weekly creatinine clearance (TWCC) and TBW. RESULTS: In patients with residual renal function (N = 41), TWKt/V and TWCC were 2.2 +/- 0.8 and 77.4 +/- 24.5 L, respectively. In patients without RRF (N = 22), TWKt/V was 1.6 +/- 0.4 and TWCC 42.6 +/- 9.2 L. TBW correlated negatively with TWKt/V in the group without RRF (r = -0.75, P<0.001). CONCLUSION: It is not possible for larger patients without RRF treated with CAPD (2L x 4 exchanges) to achieve the acceptable targets for TWKt/V and TWCC due to TBW.