Abstract
Anticoagulant free hemodialysis (HD), without complications, was possible with selection of an antithrombogenic membrane material and improvement of HD lines.
We performed anticoagulant free HD in 6 long-term maintenance HD patients and assessed changes in various parameters involved in the coagulation-fibrinolysis system. Based on the results, the antithrombogenic properties of various membrane materials were evaluated.
Although the thrombin-antithrombin III complex (TAT) values were not significantly changed during HD with heparin, they rose significantly, by 9.1 fold, during anticoagulant free HD as compared to HD with heparin.
Among the various HD membranes compared, polyethylene glycol grafted cellulose (PC) membrane was rated superior in terms of antithrombogenicity, since the changes in TAT, percent decrease in platelet counts and PF-4 were smaller, and no residual blood was observed after HD.
