Projects

Overhydration (OH) in children on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) is a major determinant of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Detection of OH in asymptomatic stable children on CAPD is challenging. Clinical assessment of OH, despite being the most used method, is often unreliable and fails to recognise early OH. Evidence on determining OH in children on CAPD by objective bedside tools like lung ultrasound (LU) and bioimpedance vector analysis (BIVA) is lacking. Hypertension, encountered in a majority (55-70%) of children on dialysis, is another important factor influencing cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. However, there is ambiguity in the relationship between OH and hypertension. Hence, the association of OH with blood pressure control needs to be further explored for optimal patient management. This prospective study was undertaken to detect OH by LU and BIVA and assess the association of OH with uncontrolled ambulatory blood pressure (ABPM) in stable (no overt signs of fluid overload) children on CAPD over short term follow up.