Nephrology Critical Care

Murray P, Hall J. Renal replacement therapy for acute renal failure. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2000; 162:777-81. Concise review of continuous vs. intermittent use of hemodialysis, ultrafiltration, and hemofiltration in hemodynamically stable and unstable patients with ARF. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=10988080

Vinsonneau C, Camus C, Combes A, et al. Continuous venovenous haemodiafiltration versus intermittent haemodialysis for acute renal failure in patients with multiple-organ dysfunction syndrome.  Lancet  2006 ; 368 :379-85.  Like previous RCTs addressing this issue, this multicenter study of 360 ICU patients found no advantage to continuous venovenous dialysis in terms of 60-day survival.  A limitation of the study is that the delivered dialysis dose may have been suboptimal for both arms. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=16876666&query_hl=7&itool=pubmed_docsum