Table 1. Baseline characteristics of the hemodialysis patients according to the epoetin alfa resistance in the first trimester of the study.
| Variables | Resistant to Epoetin Alfa* | Total (n=99) | P-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No (n=78) | Yes (n=21) | |||
| Age (years) | 45 (57–31) | 47 (61–36) | 45 (58–31) | 0.543m |
| Gender-female, n (%) | 36 (45.5) | 12 (60.0) | 48 (48.4) | 0.249x |
| HD vintage, months | 46.5 (74–16) | 49 (87–16) | 47 (78–16) | 0.989m |
| Body mass index, kg/m2 | 22.2 (26.2–19.8) | 21.8 (23.4–20.2) | 22.2 (25.5–19.8) | 0.419m |
| Kt/V Index, % | 1.5 (± 0.3) | 1.5 (± 0.1) | 1.5 (± 0.3) | 0.495t |
| Arterial hypertension, yes (n, %) | 68 (87.1) | 18 (85.7) | 86 (86.8) | 1.000x |
| ARB use, yes (n, %) | 33 (42.3) | 11 (52.3) | 44 (44.4) | 0.211x |
| SHPT treatment, yes (n, %) | 16 (20.2) | 3 (15.0) | 19 (19.1) | 0.756f |
| Anemia, yes (n, %) | 20 (25.6) | 19 (90.4) | 39 (39.3) | <0.001x |
| Urea reduction ratio, % | 70.1 (± 7.1 | 68.5 (± 7.4) | 69.8 (± 7.1) | 0.391t |
| Interdialytic weight gain, % | 3.6 (± 1.7) | 3.5 (± 2.0) | 3.6 (± 1.7) | 0.769t |
| Red blood cells, n | 4.1 x 106 (± 7.5 x 105) | 3.4 x 106 (± 5.6 x105) | 4.0 x 106 (± 7.8 x 105) | <0.001t |
| Hematocrit, % | 34.8 (± 5.0) | 26.8 (± 3.1) | 33.1 (± 5.7) | <0.001t |
| Hemoglobin, g/dL | 11.0 (± 1.5) | 8.3 (± 0.9) | 10.4 (± 1.8) | <0.001t |
| MCV, fL | 83.8 (± 6.7) | 79.3 (± 8.8) | 82.8 (± 7.4) | 0.010t |
| MCH, pg | 26.6 (± 2.6) | 24.6 (± 3.4) | 26.2 (± 2.9) | 0.006t |
| MCHC, g/dL | 31.7 (± 0.98) | 31.0 (± 1.61) | 31.5 (± 1.17) | 0.016t |
| Serum iron, µg/dL | 53.5 (69–44) | 54 (59–43) | 54 (69–44) | 0.709m |
| Ferritin, µg/L | 509 (970.7–254) | 546 (1006–231.8) | 511 (994–245) | 0.778m |
| TSAT, % | 26 (32–20) | 23 (30–18) | 26 (32–20) | 0.530m |
| PTH, pg/mL | 287 (713–156) | 475 (658–140) | 313.1 (705.3–152.6) | 0.955m |
| GPT, U/L | 11 (14–7) | 8 (11–7) | 10 (13–7) | 0.074m |
| Serum albumin, g/dL | 4.1 (4.4–4.0) | 3.9 (4.1–3.4) | 4.1 (4.4–3.9) | 0.006m |
| Glucose, mg/dL | 111.5 (139–96) | 119.0 (138–111) | 115 (131–107) | 0.335m |
| Serum phosphorus, mg/dL | 5.1 (± 1.5) | 4.8 (± 1.8) | 5.0 (± 1.6) | 0.496t |
| Serum calcium, mg/dL | 8.8 (9.1–8.3) | 8.7 (9.2–8.3) | 8.8 (9.2–8.3) | 0.744m |
| Serum sodium, mmol/L | 139 (142–137) | 138.5 (141–136) | 139 (142–137) | 0.319m |
| Serum potassium, mmol/L | 5.4 (± 0.90) | 5.0 (± 0.73) | 5.3 (± 0.88) | 0.685t |
| Serum creatinine, mg/dL | 12.2 (13.9–8.3) | 11.7 (14.0–8.8) | 12.0 (14.0–8.8) | 0.603m |
| CRP-US, mg/dL | 0.3 (0.7–0.1) | 1.1 (4.4–0.3) | 0.4 (1.0–0.1) | 0.005m |
| αEPO dose, UI/kg/week | 131.6 (173.9–70.7) | 222.2 (242.4–200) | 161 (200–78) | <0.001m |
| ERI*, UI/kg/week/Hb | 11.6 (17.5–5.7) | 25.5 (29.5–19.5) | 15.0 (21.9–6.4) | <0.001m |
Monthly ERI ≥19.47 throughout the first trimester; tindependent samples t-test; mMann-Whitney test; xchi-squared test; fFisher's exact test. Data are reported as means±SD or median (quartile 3 - quartile 1). HD: hemodialysis; Kt/V: quality of dialysis; ARB: angiotensin receptor blocker; SHPT: secondary hyperparathyroidism; MCV: mean corpuscular volume; MCH: mean corpuscular hemoglobin; MCHC: mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration; TSAT: transferrin saturation; PTH: parathyroid hormone; GPT: glutamate-pyruvate transaminase; CRP-US: ultra-sensitive C-reactive protein; αEPO: epoetin alfa; ERI: erythropoietin resistance index.