Biocompatibility aspects of cellophane, cellulose acetate, polyacrylonitrile, polysulfone and polycarbonate hemodialyzers.

The biocompatibility of cuprammonium rayon (Cu), cellulose acetate, polysulfone (Ps) and polyacrylonitrile hollow-fiber dialyzers and a polycarbonate-polyether flat plate dialyzer has been investigated. The Cu dialyzer resulted in more complement activation and a greater degree of leukopenia than the others, while the Ps hollow-fiber dialyzer appeared to be the most biocompatible of the membrane equipment in this study. These results were confirmed by in vitro evaluations and microscopic examinations of the different dialyzers.