Slovenian Renal Replacement Therapy Registry: Excerpts From the 2006 Annual Report

The total number of end‐stage renal disease patients treated by renal replacement therapy (RRT) in Slovenia on 31 December 2006 was 1835, that is, 913 per million population (pmp). Of these patients, 1271 (69%) were treated by hemodialysis, 102 (6%) by peritoneal dialysis, and 461 (25%) had a functioning kidney graft. Two hundred and forty‐nine incident patients, 124 pmp (at day one), started RRT: median age 66 years, 60% men, 30.5% diabetics. Of the hemodialysis patients, 77% were dialyzed in hospital and 23% in private dialysis centers. Hemodiafiltration was used in 38% of the hemodialysis patients. The vascular accesses were native arteriovenous fistulas in 84%, polytetrafluoroethylene grafts in 5%, and hemodialysis catheters in 11% of patients. The crude death rate of dialysis patients was 14.7%, of transplant recipients 1.35%, of both dialysis and transplant patients 11.4%. The number of patients positive for hepatitis B or C viruses is stable and low at 2.3% of the dialysis patients.