Preface

摘要

The 62nd Annual Meeting of The Japanese Society for Dialysis Therapy, held in June 2017 in Yokohama, Japan, brought together 22,412 participants from Japan and overseas for special lectures, educational lectures, symposia, and workshops to discuss the theme "Time for Transformation: A Bright Future for Dialysis Thera-py." As a result of the statistical survey at the end of 2016, The Overview of Regular Dialysis, 329,609 patients were under dialysis, an increase of 4,623 patients compared to end of 2015. This number is the third largest number in the world next to the United States and China. However, the number of peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients was only 9,021, 2.7% of all dialysis patients. The number of PD patients has been declining since 1998. More than 95% of these patients undergo in-center hemodialysis (HD), and very few ESRD patients undergo PD and kidney transplantation. This in-center excessive bias of HD is a feature of dialysis therapy in Japan. Another important issue facing Japan is the aging of dialysis patients. The average age of patients introduced to dialysis in 2016 was 69.4 years, respectively, rising by 0.2 years from 2015. The average age of males was 68.57 years, and that of females was 71.19 years, an increase of 0.20 and 0.24 years, respectively, as compared with 2015. The average age of maintenance dialysis patients was 68.15 years, which increased by 0.29 years compared with the previous year. The average age of males was 67.34 years, an increase of 0.27 years; the average age of females was 69.61 years, an increase of 0.33 years. Both males and females, 65-69 years old, represented the highest proportions. This increase in average age is largely due to the aging population. In addition, the effect of treatment of renal failure patients in the preservation period is good in Japan. The rapid increase in the number of dialysis patients does not only concern Japan. It is a major global problem in the world including Asia, Africa, Europe, and America.