Reaching targets for mineral metabolism clinical practice guidelines and its impact on outcomes among Mexican chronic dialysis patients.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: An increasing number of studies have been published concerning meeting targets of clinical guidelines for different aspects of the diagnosis and treatment of patients with end-stage renal disease. Most of these studies have shown that guideline recommendations are not always satisfied, and results outside target limits have been associated with high rates of mortality and morbidity. The objective of this study was to analyze the frequency of reaching mineral and bone metabolism-related guideline targets and its impact on clinical outcomes in Mexican chronic dialysis patients.

METHODS

A cohort of prevalent peritoneal dialysis (PD) and hemodialysis (HD) patients were analyzed at baseline and followed for at least 16 months. Patients were on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD), automated peritoneal dialysis (APD), and HD and contracted HD modalities where patients received HD sessions outside institution facilities.

RESULTS

We studied 753 patients. The percentage of patients within target limits for phosphorus was 35%, for calcium 32%, and for PTH 12%. The most frequent pattern was hyperphosphatamia, hypercalcemia, and low PTH. This was even more frequent in CAPD patients, probably due to the high percentage of diabetic patients. Hypercalcemia was found as an independent risk factor for mortality.

CONCLUSIONS

The most important results suggest that guideline recommendations are not usually satisfied and that hypercalcemia, in addition to other traditional risk factors, is associated with high mortality rates. The study also detected some opportunities to improve the quality of treatment by reducing the calcium content of dialysis solutions and reducing the use of calcium carbonate as a phosphate binder.