Nephrology Experts Discuss Possibility of Stroke Following Dialysis Treatment

Case Overview

This case involves an elderly man in New Jersey with a past medical history significant for end-stage renal disease, diabetes, and the amputation of his right leg, who had received dialysis treatments multiple times a week for several years. Traditionally, the man had taken a community van to and from the dialysis clinic to undergo treatment. After completing his treatment on the date of the incident in question, he was left unattended while waiting for the van after undergoing treatment, at which point he fell out of his wheelchair and onto his head. According to records obtained from the dialysis center, the patient’s blood pressure dropped significantly during the course of his treatment. During the course of treatment for his fall, the man’s treating physicians determined that he had suffered a hemorrhagic stroke. The question remained whether the man’s fall caused his stroke, or if the stroke, suffered as a complication of his dialysis treatment, caused his fall. According to the man’s treating physicians, the likelihood of a stroke was increased by his blood pressure fluctuation during and after dialysis treatment, as well as several previous instances of transient ischemic attacks the man had suffered after dialysis.