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The monitoring of relative blood volume changes ([DELTA]RBV) has been advocated for the prevention of hemodialysis (HD) hypotension. Stand-alone devices (Crit-Line) or devices incorporated into the HD apparatus (blood volume monitor [BVM], Hemoscan) are widely used for this purpose. Comparisons between devices are scarce. The aim of this study was, first, to compare [DELTA]RBV results from these 3 devices with [DELTA]RBV calculated from changes in laboratory-derived hemoglobin ([DELTA]RBV-lab-Hb) and, second, to compare [DELTA]RBV results between the different devices. Fourteen patients received 2 HD treatments in a randomized order: one with the Hemoscan and Crit-Line combination and one with the BVM and Crit-Line combination. [DELTA]RBV-lab-Hb was measured at 2 and 4 hr into the HD session. Bland-Altman analyses showed that [DELTA]RBV results from the 3 devices differed systematically from [DELTA]RBV-lab-Hb, i.e., the difference between the 3 devices and [DELTA]RBV-lab-Hb varied significantly (p<0.05) with the magnitude of the measurement. The interdevice comparison showed considerable differences in [DELTA]RBV results. At the end of the treatment, a significant difference (p<0.05) between [DELTA]RBV measured by the Hemoscan and Crit-Line device (-9.8 /-2.7% and -11.5 /-4%, respectively) was found. In most patients, a systematic difference between Crit-Line and Hemoscan and between Crit-Line and BVM was observed. Relative blood volume change measurements by Crit-Line, Hemoscan, and BVM yield results that differ systematically from the results obtained from laboratory-derived Hb changes. Furthermore, there are substantial differences in [DELTA]RBV results between the 3 [DELTA]RBV devices.

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