High-Volume Hemodiafiltration Improves Patient Survival – The Key Message of Fresenius Medical Care at the 50th ERA-EDTA Congress

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The Catalonian Online Hemodiafiltration Survival Study (ESHOL) published in February 2013 confirms Fresenius Medical Care's conviction that every patient should be given the chance to benefit from hemodiafiltration (HDF) therapy with high volumes of substitution fluid (HighVolumeHDF). The primary outcome of the study was that HighVolumeHDF therapy significantly improves patient survival compared with conventional dialysis treatment. At this year's ERA-EDTA Congress, held in Istanbul, Turkey from May 18 to 21, HighVolumeHDF was the main focus of Fresenius Medical Care's activities.

Results of the Catalonian HDF study, recently published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, were presented at Fresenius Medical Care's Scientific Lunch Symposium by the lead study investigator, Dr. Francisco Maduell of Barcelona, Spain. With 906 patients from 27 centers in Spain's Catalonia region, this is the largest study to date on HDF. The main finding of this randomized controlled trial is a 30% reduced risk of all-cause mortality for patients treated with HDF and large volumes of substitution (HighVolumeHDF) compared with patients treated with conventional hemodialysis. The large number of participants – more than 1,000 – at the symposium underlined the nephrology community's keen interest in the symposium's subject, "Emerging Concept: High Volume Matters in Hemodiafiltration (HighVolumeHDF)."

Professor Bernard Canaud, Chairman of Fresenius Medical Care's EMEALA (Europe, Middle East, Africa, Latin America) Medical Board, summarized the symposium, stating that "HighVolumeHDF significantly improves patient survival and quality of life versus standard hemodialysis and should therefore be the standard in cardioprotective hemodialysis for all patients."

These latest findings confirm the longstanding conviction of Fresenius Medical Care that HighVolumeHDF is the most efficient and cardioprotective therapy for dialysis patients with end-stage renal failure. That is why Fresenius Medical Care has been developing products for cardioprotective hemodialysis for years, leading to the CorDiax product line and the Online Purification Cascade for best water quality. This comprehensive approach, presented at the booth and the therapy forum, perfectly supports the application of HighVolumeHDF in daily clinical practice. The 5008 CorDiax and 5008S CorDiax therapy systems include a new feature for achieving high substitution volumes, the AutoSub plus. This is an intelligent automatic regulation system to maximize the substitution volume for the individual patient while avoiding the risk of filter blockage. The 5008 CorDiax and 5008S CorDiax therapy systems therefore facilitate HighVolumeHDF in a very simple and safe manner, making HighVolumeHDF therapy feasible for all patients.

Fresenius Medical Care's strong commitment to research and innovation was also evidenced by the 44 abstracts of original scientific research accepted for presentation at the congress. These contributions, in the form of scientific posters and oral presentations, spanned multiple research categories, from stem cell research through all stages of chronic and acute kidney disease. The categories with the most Fresenius Medical Care research contributions were:

• Extracorporeal dialysis – techniques and adequacy (9 posters & 1 oral presentation)
• Epidemiology (7 posters)
• CKD-Mineral & Bone Disorder (3 posters & 3 oral presentations)

Three of the abstracts were considered among the best 10 contributions received, and were given special recognition by the ERA-EDTA.