Differences of connectivity between ESRD patients with PD and HD

Abstract Objectives The aim of this study was to investigate alterations in structural and functional brain connectivity between patients with end‐stage renal disease (ESRD) who were undergoing peritoneal dialysis (PD) and hemodialysis (HD). Methods We enrolled 40 patients with ESRD who were undergoing PD (20 patients) and HD (20 patients). We also enrolled healthy participants as a control group. All of the subjects underwent diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and resting‐state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs‐fMRI). Using data from the structural and functional connectivity matrix based on DTI and rs‐fMRI, we calculated several network measures using graph theoretical analysis. Results The measures of global structural connectivity were significantly different between the patients with ESRD who were undergoing PD and healthy subjects. The global efficiency and local efficiency in the patients with PD were significantly decreased compared with those in healthy participants. However, all of the measures of global structural connectivity in the patients with HD were not different from those in healthy participants. Conversely, in the global functional connectivity, the characteristic path length was significantly increased and the small‐worldness index was decreased in patients with HD. However, the measures of the global functional connectivity in the patients with PD were not different from those in healthy subjects. Conclusion This study revealed that alterations in structural and functional connectivity in patients who were undergoing PD and HD were different than those in healthy controls. These findings suggest that brain networks may be affected by different types of renal replacement therapy.