Role of Chronic Use of Tolvaptan in Patients with Heart Failure Undergoing Peritoneal Dialysis.

In the present study, we assessed the effect of chronic tolvaptan treatment and compared it with the effect of conventional treatment without tolvaptan. In addition, changes in cardiac load and body fluid composition were compared.The study enrolled 22 patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis who had been receiving tolvaptan for more than 1 year and 10 patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis who had been treated with conventional diuretics. Left ventricular mass index (LVMI), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), and E/e' index were measured by echocardiography at baseline and after 12 months of tolvaptan treatment (or an equivalent period). Body composition was analyzed by bioimpedance monitoring (BIM).In the tolvaptan group, LVMI was significantly reduced after 12 months of treatment; in the conventional-treatment group, it was significantly increased. The measured LVEF did not change in the tolvaptan group, but it increased significantly in the conventional-treatment group. The E/e' index was not altered in either group; however, it was reduced in patients receiving tolvaptan whose initial E/e' was greater than 15. Although urine volume was not significantly increased in either group, renal creatinine clearance increased significantly in tolvaptan group; no change was observed in the conventional-treatment group. Renal and peritoneal Kt/V did not significantly change during the study. In both groups, β₂-microglobulin was significantly and similarly increased. Extracellular water (ECW) and intracellular water (ICW) as determined by BIM were both reduced after 12 months of tolvaptan treatment. We observed a significant correlation between the ratio of ECW to total body water at the initiation of tolvaptan and the reduction in ECW after 12 months.Our results indicate that chronic tolvaptan treatment has a beneficial role in body fluid control without a reduction in cardiac and renal function. Volume control depends on an equal reduction in ECW and ICW, which can also have a benefit in avoiding hyponatremia.