Life After Capo
Of 508 patients trained for CAPD during the first five years, 115 (22.6%) were transferred to an alternative dialysis modality. Of these 87% were transferred to centre dialysis programs, equally divided between hemodialysis and intermittent peritoneal dialysis. Advanced age favoured transfer to intermittent peritoneal dialysis and failure due to peritonitis, transfer to hemodialysis. Three year survival after transfer from CAPD was 38%. The presence of diabetes and advanced age adversely affected survival after transfer. Dialysis modality and peritonitis as the cause of CAPD failure did not affect survival. Other treatment options are available to patients who fail CAPD. A relatively high drop-out is therefore acceptable and preferable to continuing CAPD in patients encountering complications which might ultimately influence their survival. Since its introduction in Toronto in 1977, continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) has achieved increasing prominence in the management of end-stage renal disease. Throughout its comparatively short history, one of the major criticisms of this technique has been the relatively high drop-out rate. This report provides a follow-up of patients transferred from CAPD to alternative dialysis modalities.