Frequent hemodialysis with NxStage™ system in pediatric patients receiving maintenance hemodialysis

Recent evidence from adult hemodialysis (HD) patient studies reveal improved biochemical control and reported health-related quality of life after transition from conventional thrice weekly to daily home maintenance HD treatment. Published pediatric frequent dialysis experiences demonstrate similar improvement but all used conventional HD machines, which employ a treated municipal water supply, thereby frequently exposing patients to proinflammatory components. We report our pediatric experience with six-times-weekly HD using the NxStage™ system, which uses sterile dialysis fluid to provide dialysis in the home or center setting. Four patients (weight range 38–61.4 kg) completed the 16-week study. Patients exhibited progressive reductions in casual pretreatment systolic and diastolic blood pressures, discontinuation of antihypertensive medications, and decreased blood pressure load by ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. Mean serum phosphorus improved without change in phosphorus binder medication, and all three patients with a normalized protein catabolic rate <1 g/kg per day at the beginning of the study improved to a normalized protein catabolic rate (nPCR) of >1.1 g/kg per day. Patients reported no adverse effects. Variable changes in proinflammatory cytokine levels were observed. We suggest that frequent HD with the NxStage™ system be considered for children who would benefit from home-based maintenance dialysis.