Peritoneal dialysis membrane evaluation in clinical practice.

A review is given on the various methods to assess the quality of the peritoneum as a dialysis membrane. The quality of the peritoneum in patients who are treated with chronic peritoneal dialysis (PD) has mainly focused on solute transport. Only recently have biomarkers in effluent been considered as useful, but are not generally applied. Peritoneal function tests should not be performed only when clinical problems are present, but rather on a regular basis, for instance every 6-12 months. Only in this way can the natural cause become apparent.