Home hemodialysis review in Iowa: 1970--1977.

One hundred fifty-two patients were accepted for home hemodialysis training from 1970 to 1976. Duration of training varied from 4 to 22 weeks. The primary reason for discontinuing home dialysis was patient and assistant psychological adjustment problems. Patient medical and technical problems were not related to the distance from the home dialysis training unit. Cumulative probability of survival was .948 at one year and .637 at five years. Cardiovascular disease accounted for 80% of the patients who died while receiving long-term hemodialysis. Fifty-three percent of the deaths in patients after renal transplantation were secondary to infectious causes.