As you go through this section of the module consider the following scenario:
67 year old African American male with history of diabetes, hypertension, coronary artery disease, and end stage renal disease secondary to diabetic nephropathy is on hemodialysis three times a week for 4 hours via a left arm brachiocephalic AV fistula. You are the rounding nephrologist in the dialysis unit and a concerned nurse reports that the patient’s most recent Kt/V is 1.0 down from previous levels of 1.4-1.6.
- What is Kt/Vurea?
- How do we measure Kt/V?
- What is the goal Kt/V?
- Why do we care about Kt/V?
- Troubleshooting a drop in Kt/V
- What are the limitations of Kt/V?
- Playground! Play around with variations of Qb (access blood flow rate), Qd (dialysate flow rate) and KoA to see how it impacts K and Kt/V