| Abstract: | Malnutrition is common in patients with uremia, and is frequently latent. In hemodialysis patients, malnutrition can be critical, forming one of the main causes of mortality. Anthropomorphic measurements reveal a decrease in lean and fat body mass in respectively 30–50 and 70 % of these patients. The severity of malnutrition during chronic hemodialysis has led to a search for nutritional markers for use in identifying high-risk patients requiring active nutritional management; they include a serum transthyretin value of < 300 mg/l, a serum somatomedin C of < 300 μg/l and a protein catabolic rate of < 1 g/kg/l. Given their simplicity and low cost, serum transthyretin and the protein catabolic rate may be useful for monitoring such patients. |
