[Use of the equipment for hemodialysis in the diagnosis of calcium metabolism disorders in terminal chronic renal failure].

As many as 18 patients with terminal chronic renal failure were treated by program hemodialysis. The initial concentration of ionized calcium in those patients' blood plasma amounted to 1.06 +/- 0.22 mmol/l. To assess function of the systems counteracting hypocalcemia, use was made of a session of hemodialysis against calcium-free dialysate. 2/3 of the patients demonstrated satisfactory function of the homeostatic system, maintained by a high secretion of PTH and involvement into regulation processes of the extraplasmic system marked by higher buffer capacities and a large pool of metabolism-capable calcium and apparently localized in the skeleton. In 1/3 of the patients, homeostatic function turned out to be dramatically impaired, which was provoked by inhibition of the secretory capacity of the parathyroid glands and manifested clinically by low tolerance to calcium losses and osteomalacia.