Impact of kidney size on mortality in diabetic patients receiving peritoneal dialysis

Abstract

Although patients with diabetes mellitus mostly present with enlarged or normal-sized kidneys throughout their life, a small proportion of patients have small kidneys. This longitudinal study enrolled 83 diabetic patients treated with peritoneal dialysis between 2015 and 2019. Patients were divided into two groups, those with enlarged or normal (n = 67) or small (n = 16) kidneys, based on their kidney sizes before dialysis. Patients with small kidney size were not only older , suffered longer duration of diabetes mellitus and predominantly female, but also had lower serum levels of creatinine and albumin than patients with enlarged or normal kidney size. At the end of analysis, 14 (16.9%) patients died.

Conclusion: Diabetic patients with small kidney size at the beginning of peritoneal dialysis carry a substantial risk for mortality.Patients with small kidney size demonstrated higher all-cause and infection-related mortality than patients with enlarged or normal kidney size.

Source Nature