Therapeutic Research

Abstract

Background：No previous study has investigated whether tolvaptan（TLV）can prolong the time until dialysis is required for end‒stage kidney disease accompanied by heart failure. Methods：This retrospective study included 40 patients with predialysis kidney disease accompanied by heart failure between April 2012 and September 2013. There were 20 patients who received TLV from the time of shunt placement（T group）, and 20 patients who had shunt placement but who did not receive TLV（C group）. The times until initiation of dialysis were compared between these groups. Result：The times until initiation of dialysis in both groups were plotted as Kaplan‒Meier curves. The renal survival rate was significantly higher in the T group than in the C group（p＝0.0023）. This was particularly notable in patients with diabetic nephropathy. Conclusion：Our retrospective case‒control study suggests that treatment with TLV may prolong the time until dialysis is required.