Clinical Validation Study for Optimization of Anemia MAnagement in Hemodialysis Patients With End Stage Kidney Disease Using the Dialysis Anemia TReatmenT Model

Hemoglobin cycling is an outcome of treating long-term dialysis patients for anemia using erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs), and represents a conundrum for practitioners. While patients with low hemoglobin levels suffer from anemia, high hemoglobin levels may lead to blood clots and subsequent health risks. The current protocol for ESA dosing often results in suboptimal dosing that leads to hemoglobin cycling, which can have a negative impact on patient survival. To this end, we have developed a personalized method for ESA dosing that controls anemia in dialysis patients that is similar to the commercial product sold by PhySoft. Our method, the Dialysis Anemia Treatment Model, uses a mathematical model for erythropoiesis that takes each patient's physiology into account, predicting the optimal dose of ESA for that patient to prevent hemoglobin cycling. The goal of this computer-aided approach is to reduce hemoglobin cycling and the amount of drug used by predicting optimal doses to keep the patient's hemoglobin within the desired range. This is a human subject research study to validate the model in the clinic and demonstrate that it is able to minimize hemoglobin cycling in patients and reduce the amount of ESA drug administered.