| [ Summary ] |
Based on a Japanese survey report published by the Japanese Society for Dialysis Therapy, the percentage of dialysis patients 75 years old and older with serum albumin levels of less than 3.5 g/dL gradually increased over a 10 year period. The percentage almost doubled from 32.7 % in 2005 to 49.3 % in 2015. This indicates an increase in the number of patients with hypotension and hemodynamic instability due to aging and progressive undernutrition during dialysis therapy. Therefore, we need to start utilizing various monitoring technologies to objectively assess the body fluid volume and hemodynamic status of hemodialysis patients. Since the body composition of dialysis patients in a wide age range constantly fluctuates, setting an appropriate body weight for each individual patient is important. Evalution by MFBIA is effective for this purpose. Also, BV monitoring is an effective way to prevent rapid decline in blood pressure during dialysis and if dialysis machine responds according to the monitored value, it will provide added safety of dialysis. While there are some other kinds of monitoring devices and systems available, effective utilization of information obtained by a non-invasive and rapid-response biomonitoring device with enhanced accuracy is the key to the future of dialysis treatment. |