Haemo- and peritoneal dialysis treatment of patients with diabetic nephropathy--a comparative study.

Thirty-two patients with advanced chronic renal insufficiency due to juvenile onset diabetes mellitus were submitted to dialytic treatment, 16 with intermittent haemodialysis and 16 with peritoneal dialysis. Both groups were similar with respect to onset of diabetes, course of renal insufficiency, as well as start and duration of dialysis treatment (382 and 389 patient months respectively). Patients on haemodialysis showed a more rapid progress of retinopathy and neuropathy, whereas the control of hypertension proved to be more difficult with peritoneal dialysis. A reduced peritoneal dialysance of urea, demonstrated in patients with diabetic nephropathy, could be improved by dipyridamole administration, whereas this drug showed no effect on the dialysances of urea and inulin in patients with chronic renal insufficiency of non-diabetic origin. There were no differences between the survival rates of the two groups which were substantially lower than in non-diabetic dialysis patients.