doi:10.1093/ndt/gfh550 Special Feature Dialysis dose and frequency

Background. From the beginning of the dialysis era, the issue of optimal dialysis dose and frequency has been a central topic in the delivery of dialysis treatment. Methods. We undertook a discussion to achieve a consensus on key points relating to dialysis dose and frequency, focusing on the relationships with clinical and patient outcomes. Results. Traditionally, dialysis adequacy has been quantified referring to the kinetics of urea, taken as a paradigm of all uraemic toxins, and applying the principles of pharmacokinetics using either single- or double-pool variable volume models. An index of dialysis dose is the fractional clearance of urea, which is commonly expressed as Kt/V. It can be calculate