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The birth of home dialysis
The first home haemodialysis, 1964 In the early 1960s dialysis was still a very new technology. It was high-tech, life-saving and dramatic. That you can run the the blood of conscious patients through a machine to replace a critical body function is still pretty amazing today. The idea of sending patients home to look after…
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Dialysis for endstage renal failure in the UK
Good news travels quickly In September 1960 Scribner recounted his first 6 months experience of dialysis via the new AV shunt at the first International Society of Nephrology meeting in Evian, which had just launched its mineral water. (If you haven’t already, you might start by reading Dialysis for endstage renal failure in the world.…
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Dialysis for endstage renal failure (ESRF, ESRD)
The obstacles started to fall in 1960 On the 9th March 1960, Clyde Shields, a Boeing machinist in Seattle, was started on haemodialysis despite having chronic kidney failure. He was the first long-term dialysis patient and the beginning of a revolution. He survived with transplant until 1971, but he is unlikely to have suspected at…
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The first successful transplants, 1960-70
For patients, a last throw of the dice The first human transplants were heroic operations undertaken at a time when dialysis was not a long term option. A few outstanding stories kept hopes high, but in general, the outcome of these early experiments were down heartening. Photos: Linda Phillips in 1966, at the Western General…
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Peritoneal dialysis becomes a treatment for endstage renal disease
Many small improvements Peritoneal dialysis (PD) for endstage renal failure was first given as intermittent intensive treatments (IPD) given continuously for 1-2 days once weekly. Patients would generally have a new rigid PD catheter inserted each week under local anaesthetic, be treated for up to 48h, then receive no dialysis for 5 days. Its first…