Assessment of hemolysis in regular hemodialysis patients by measuring carbon monoxide production rate.

In 17 patients requiring regular hemodialysis, inter- and intradialytic hemoglobin catabolism measured as endogenous carbon monoxide production (VCO) were studied before (9 patients) and after (8 patients) the introduction of water treatment. Before the water treatment, VCo increased significantly from inter- to intradialytic periods whereas insignificant changes were noted after the water treatment. Thus water treatment leads to less destruction of erythrocytes in connection with hemodialysis. However, hemolysis associated with hemodialysis does not play a major role as a cause of anemia in these patients.