Active vitamin D deficiency is one of the most common problems in chronic renal failure. The aim of this study was to compare calcidiol values in patients under continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis with those in patients under hemodialysis to evaluate whether the dialysis method influences vitamin D deficiency during the first 4 months of treatment.
Vitamin D status and calcium/phosphate values were compared in the sera of 31 patients with chronic renal failure through chemoluminescence. Of the 31 patients, 14 received continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis and 17 received hemodialysis.
Calcidiol values were lower in the peritoneal dialysis group than in the hemodialysis group (p < 0.001). Hypocalcemic patients were more frequent in the peritoneal dialysis.
Continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis may aggravate vitamin D deficiency in patients with chronic renal failure and thus contribute to mineral metabolism disturbances, which in turn could increase the risk of peritonitis.