Mayo Studies Rates of Kidney-Failure Death

Mayo Clinic researchers searching for explanations of high mortality rates among kidney-failure patients undergoing hemodialysis are focusing their attention on the use of heparin, a drug used to reduce blood clotting.

Their study in the August issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings found patients on hemodialysis who had a higher level of adverse outcomes also had elevated levels of heparin antibodies in their blood.

However, Robert McBane, M.D., a Mayo Clinic cardiovascular-disease specialist who led the study, cautions that these results are preliminary.

“These results are thought-provoking and hypothesis-generating, but, at this point, we need more study,” Dr. McBane said. “Patients requiring hemodialysis have a high mortality rate for reasons which are not clear. The search for variables contributing to this mortality rate is of prime importance” (Mayo Clinic).