Blood coagulation unaffected by ozonated autohemotherapy in patients on maintenance hemodialysis

BACKGROUND: Ozonated autohemotherapy (O(3)-AHT) is a clinically useful therapeutic procedure in hemodialyzed patients with peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD). The majority of patients on dialysis are in a hypercoagulable state. Thrombotic complications are the major cause of morbidity and mortality in hemodialyzed patients. Effects of O(3)-AHT on blood coagulation were evaluated in 11 hemodialyzed patients affected by PAOD. METHODS: We performed an oxygen-controlled, crossover study in which nine sessions of autohemotherapy with oxygen administration (AHT) as a control were followed by nine sessions of O(3)-AHT. Blood coagulation was assessed by antithrombin III, activated partial thromboplastin time, prothrombin time, D-dimer and fibrinogen plasma concentrations. RESULTS: The extents of all the measured parameters after nine sessions of O(3)-AHT did not differ statistically from the values after nine sessions of AHT. Similarly, there were no differences in the measured variables after the first session of O(3)-AHT as compared to the values before therapy. We did not observe any thrombotic accidents during the study. CONCLUSIONS: O(3)-AHT with ozone concentration of 50 microg/mL and citrate as an anticoagulant does not influence blood coagualation parameters in hemodialyzed patients with PAOD.