Daily Hemodialysis — Will Treatment Each Day Improve the Outcome in Patients with Acute Renal Failure?

The mortality rate among hospitalized patients with acute renal failure is high and has not changed substantially since dialysis was introduced several decades ago.1 Although it might be argued that patients with acute renal failure are more seriously ill nowadays, attempts to show any substantial improvement in outcome have been disappointing. The mortality rate among patients who require dialysis generally exceeds 50 percent and is especially high among those in intensive care units.1,2 Thus, there is a great deal of interest in developing strategies to reduce the mortality rate.In this issue of the Journal, Schiffl et al.3 report . . .