Fig 5. The distribution of causes of death in the study patients.

In the entire study cohort, the distribution of causes of death was similar for serum potassium levels below and above 4.5 mmol/L. However, subsequent analysis established that patients undergoing hemodialysis and those undergoing peritoneal dialysis show slightly different distribution of causes of death. Specifically, hemodialysis patients with serum potassium ≥4.5 mmol/L were more likely to die of cardiovascular disease than those with serum potassium < 4.5 mmol/L. On the other hand, peritoneal dialysis patients with serum potassium ≥4.5 mmol/L displayed a tendency to die of infection than those with serum potassium < 4.5 mmol/L, although insignificant.