Kt/V

In medicine, Kt/V is a number used to quantify hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis treatment adequacy.

  • K – dialyzer clearance of urea
  • t – dialysis time
  • V – volume of distribution of urea, approximately equal to patient's total body water

In the context of hemodialysis, Kt/V is a pseudo-dimensionless number; it is dependent on the pre- and post-dialysis concentration (see below). It is not the product of K and t divided by V, as would be the case in a true dimensionless number.[1] In peritoneal dialysis, it isn't dimensionless at all.

It was developed by Frank Gotch and John Sargent as a way for measuring the dose of dialysis when they analyzed the data from the National Cooperative Dialysis Study.[2] In hemodialysis the US National Kidney Foundation Kt/V target is ≥ 1.3, so that one can be sure that the delivered dose is at least 1.2.[3] In peritoneal dialysis the target is ≥ 1.7/week.[3]

Despite the name, Kt/V is quite different from standardized Kt/V.

  1. ^ Bonert, M.; Saville, BA. (2010). "A non-dimensional analysis of hemodialysis". Open Biomed Eng J. 4: 138–55. doi:10.2174/1874120701004010138. PMC 3111706. PMID 21673980.
  2. ^ Gotch FA, Sargent JA (September 1985). "A mechanistic analysis of the National Cooperative Dialysis Study (NCDS)". Kidney Int. 28 (3): 526–34. doi:10.1038/ki.1985.160. PMID 3934452.
  3. ^ a b "Clinical practice guidelines for nutrition in chronic renal failure. K/DOQI, National Kidney Foundation". Am J Kidney Dis. 35 (6 Suppl 2): S1–140. 2000. doi:10.1053/ajkd.2000.v35.aajkd03517. PMID 10895784. Archived from the original on 2006-09-03.