Use of Artificial Kidney in the Very Young, the Very Old, and the Very Sick

Methods of protecting against alleged dangers associated with use of the twin-coil artificial kidney are described, and it is emphasized that reluctance of clinicians to use this therapy, which often may be lifesaving, is not justified. The wide range of usefulness is illustrated by case reports on application of artificial dialysis in a 16-month-old girl, a 77-year-old woman, and a seriously ill middle-aged man. In tangled diagnostic situations, dialysis should be done in the hope that the underlying problems may prove correctible.