Explanation:
A epidemiologic study has demonstrated that cardiac arrest and sudden death in dialysis units occurs more frequently during Monday dialysis sessions than on other days of the week. Case patients were nearly twice as likely to have been dialyzed against a 0 or 1.0 mEq/L potassium dialysate on the day of cardiac arrest (17.1 vs. 8.8%). Patients who suffered a cardiac arrest were on average older (66.3 ± 12.9 vs. 60.2 ± 15.4 years), more likely to have diabetes (61.8 vs. 46.8%), and more likely to use a catheter for vascular access (34.1 vs. 27.8%) than the general hemodialysis population. Sixteen percent of patients experienced a drop in systolic pressure of 30 mm Hg or more prior to the arrest. Thirty-seven percent of patients who suffered cardiac arrest had been hospitalized within the past 30 days. Sixty percent of patients died within 48 hours of the arrest, including 13% while in the dialysis unit. . Cardiac arrest, while infrequent, occurs in 7 per 100,000 hemodialysis sessions. Only 48% of patients who experience cardiac arrest have a known cardiac history.
• Karnik JA, Young BS, Hew NL, et al: Cardiac arrest and sudden death in dialysis units. Kidney Int,
60:350-357, 2001
