The short peritoneal equilibration test in pediatric peritoneal dialysis

The peritoneal equilibration test (PET) is the gold standard method for defining peritoneal membrane permeability and for prescribing peritoneal dialysis (PD) therapy on an individual basis. However, it is laborious, consumes nursing time, and requires many hours to be performed. Therefore, several authors have attempted to validate a short PET protocol, with controversial results. To evaluate the concordance between the 2-h (short) and 4-h (classical) peritoneal equilibrium test, a prospective observational protocol was applied in three PD centers (Mexico, Chile, and Uruguay) between July 1, 2008 and July 31 2009. PET protocol: the night prior to the test, each patient received five exchanges, 1 h each, at the same glucose concentration as previously used. Afterwards, a 2.5% glucose dialysis solution was used for a dwell time of 4 h. Exchange fill volume was 1,100 ml/m2 body surface area. The next morning, the 4-h dwell was drained, and Dianeal 2.5% was infused. Three dialysate samples at 0, 2, and 4 h were obtained. A single blood sample was obtained at 120 min. Creatinine D/P and glucose D/[D.sub.0] ratios were calculated at hours 0, 2, and 4. Patients were categorized as low, low average, high average, or high transporters according creat D/P and gluc D/[D.sub.0] results. Pearson and Kappa test were used for numerical and categorical correlations, respectively, and p