Clinical Research Directory

Effect of Intradialytic Exercise on Left Ventricular Diastolic Function in Hemodialysis Patients

Introduction: Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in patients undergoing hemodialysis, largely due to structural cardiac changes associated with left ventricular diastolic dysfunction. In addition, this population has a high prevalence of sedentary behavior, which has been associated with increased mortality. Recent studies in patients with chronic kidney disease have shown that structured exercise interventions improve several parameters related to cardiovascular health. Objectives: To evaluate the effect of implementing systematic intradialytic exercise on left ventricular diastolic function. Materials and Methods: This will be a quasi-experimental before-and-after study conducted in two phases. During the first phase (control), prevalent hemodialysis patients will receive standard treatment for 16 weeks. Transthoracic echocardiography will be performed at baseline and repeated at the end of this phase to assess left ventricular diastolic function parameters. During the second phase (intradialytic exercise), participants will undergo a 16-week supervised and prescribed intradialytic aerobic exercise program consisting of intradialytic cycling. Exercise intensity will be individualized according to cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET), which will be performed at the beginning and end of this phase. A final echocardiogram will be obtained at the end of the intervention phase. In addition, a 6-minute walk test and a validated physical activity questionnaire will be administered monthly throughout both phases of the study.

Expanded Hemodialysis Versus High-Volume Online Hemodiafiltration for Uremic Toxin Removal

People with advanced kidney disease need dialysis to remove waste products from the blood. Some of these waste products, called uremic toxins, are small, while others are medium-sized and more difficult to remove. Poor removal of these toxins may contribute to symptoms and long-term complications in patients on dialysis. Two dialysis techniques are commonly used to improve toxin removal beyond standard hemodialysis: expanded hemodialysis (HDx) using medium cut-off membranes, and high-volume online hemodiafiltration (HV-OL-HDF). Although both techniques are effective, the best way to prescribe expanded hemodialysis-particularly the ideal treatment time-has not been clearly defined. The purpose of this study is to compare how well different treatment times of expanded hemodialysis remove small and medium-sized uremic toxins, and to compare these results with high-volume online hemodiafiltration. Toxin removal will be evaluated using a combined measurement called the Global Removal Score, which summarizes the removal of several important waste substances. This is a single-center, randomized, open-label, crossover study. Adults receiving maintenance hemodialysis will receive three different expanded hemodialysis sessions with different treatment durations (180, 210, and 240 minutes), followed by one session of high-volume online hemodiafiltration. Blood samples will be taken before and after each dialysis session to measure toxin levels. The results of this study may help determine whether expanded hemodialysis with shorter or standard treatment times can achieve toxin removal similar to high-volume hemodiafiltration, which could support more personalized and practical dialysis prescriptions.

Hemodiafiltration Versus Hemodialysis in Older People

This study will compare the impact of two hemodialysis techniques on fatigue and post-dialysis recovery time in patients aged 85 years and older. These two techniques are high-flux hemodialysis (HD) and hemodiafiltration (HDF). Patients will receive the treatment over two periods: if period 1 is HD then period 2 will be HDF. Every patient will be his/her own control, this is why it is called cross-over. Each period will last three months. Between the two periods, patients will receive a traditional low-flux hemodialysis. These two techniques are widely used worldwide and their side-effects are well-known and do not put the patients at risk. HDF has been shown to improve survival in patients with a mean age of 58 years. But a previous study from the investigators' group showed that HDF causes a prolonged recovery time in older patients. This randomized trial aims to elucidate this question.