HEMODIALYSIS UNIT

OPERATION & SERVICES OF THE UNIT

The Unit is situated in specially designed ward in the 2nd floor of the New Building of the Clinic, in modern, luminous and commodious spaces.

Specifically it includes:

• two big rooms for hemodialysis
• a separate room for hemodialysis for patients Hepatitis B (HBV) - carriers
• a special operation room for minor surgical interventions
• waiting rooms and dining room for the patients and the companions.

Basic priority is given to the comfortable and pleasant stay of the patients. It has beds and chairs with electronic control system, individual televisions, whereas free wi-fi, light meal and parking are offered to the patients.

All the hemodialysis methods, classic hemodialysis, hemodiafiltration and online-hemodiafiltration, using the most modern equipment:

• Hemodialysis apparatuses of latest technology 5008S, Fresenius Medical Care, which offer the most safe and quality treatment. At the same time, they have leading technology for monitoring in real-time the critical factors of hemodialysis (Online monitoring) and its individualization.
• Water treatment with reverse osmosis (continuous measurements of water purity)
• Latest technology, low and high flux, hemodialysis filters
• Hemodialysis solutions with bicarbonates

The ultra-modern machines of the Unit in combination with strict programs for controlling the infectious and the international therapeutical hemodialysis protocols that are applied, guarantee the safety of the patients.

The patients are under the close monitoring of the nursing and medical staff, which is selected based on strict criteria for its experience. The medical staff is present at every hemodialysis and remains at the disposal of the patients 24 hours a day for the treatment of any emergency. The possibility of daily monitoring by a Psychologist is offered to the patients, whereas their special nutritional / dietary needs are covered by the Department of Dietetics of the Clinic.

The nephrologists of the Unit perform also the most specialized procedures such as percutaneous biopsy (renal fine needle biopsy), placement of provisional (subclavicular or jugular) dialysis catheters and correction of clotting in transplants, in cooperation with vascular surgeons and interventional radiologists of the Clinic. Also, they monitor the patient who have undergone or is expected to undergo renal transplantation.

FULL TREATMENT

Operating inside Metropolitan General, the Dialysis Unit is covered by physicians of all the specialties on a 24-hour basis and it is supported by the Departments and the Laboratories of the Clinic.

It cooperates closely with the Department of Interventional Radiology and Vascular Surgery for the immediate solution of problems related with vascular access or creating new accesses. The Department of Blood Donation can cover any need for blood transfusion, whereas the Multi-purpose Intensive Care Unit, one of the first Units in the country which applied the method of continuous hemodiafiltration and plasmapheresis, has the experience and expertise for the immediate treatment of the emergencies related with renal patients.

DEPARTMENT OF PLASMAPHERESIS

It is one of the few Dialysis Units in the country, which has a latest technology plasmapheresis machine, for the treatment of various diseases.

Specifically for the treatment of:

• renal diseases (rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis, vasculitis, etc)
• neurological diseases (multiple sclerosis, demyelinating diseases, etc)
• immunological diseases (autoimmune diseases, pemphigus, etc)
• hematological diseases (macroglobulinemia, multiple myeloma, hemolytic-uremic syndrome, thrombotic - thrombocytopenic purpura etc)
• rheumatological diseases (systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, vasculitis, etc)

Also it performs:

• the preparation of renal transplant recipient (management of donor - recipient blood group incompatibility and positive cytotoxic antibodies)
• the support of liver failure (artificial liver) ad the treatment of liver diseases (fulminant hepatitis, acute liver failure, chronic hepatitis C, etc)
• the removal of lipids and cholesterol (Lipid apheresis method) in cases of hypercholesterinemia to avoid and prevent the cardiovascular diseases.