Central Venous Oxygen Saturation: A Potential New Marker for Circulatory Stress in Haemodialysis Patients?

Background/Aims: Haemodialysis causes recurrent haemodynamic stress with subsequent ischaemic end-organ dysfunction. As dialysis prescriptions/schedules can be modified to lessen this circulatory stress, an easily applicable test to allow targeted interventions in vulnerable patients is urgently required. Methods: Intra-dialytic central venous oxygen saturation (ScvO 2 ) and clinical markers (including ultrafiltration, blood pressure) were measured in 18 prevalent haemodialysis patients. Results: Pre-dialysis ScvO 2 was 63.5 ± 13% and fell significantly to 56.4 ± 8% at end dialysis (p = 0.046). Ultrafiltration volume, a key driver of dialysis-induced myocardial ischaemia, inversely correlated to ScvO 2 (r = -0.680, p = 0.015). Conclusions: This initial study demonstrates ScvO 2 sampling is practical, with a potential clinical utility as an indicator of circulatory stress during dialysis.