In medicine, Kt/V is a number used to quantify hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis treatment adequacy.
- K - dialyzer clearance of urea
- t - dialysis time
- V - volume of distribution of urea, approximately equal to patient's total body water
In the context of hemodialysis, Kt/V is a dimensionless number. In peritoneal dialysis, it is dimensionless only by definition.
It was developed by Frank Gotch and John Sargent as a way for measuring the dose of dialysis when they analyzed the data from the National Cooperative Dialysis Study. In hemodialysis the US National Kidney Foundation Kt/V target is 1.3, so that one can be sure that the delivered dose is at least 1.2. In peritoneal dialysis the target is 2.0/week.
Despite the name, Kt/V is quite different from standardized Kt/V.
Read more about Kt/V: Rationale For Kt/V As A Marker of Dialysis Adequacy, Relation To URR, Peritoneal Dialysis, Reason For Adoption, Criticisms/disadvantages of Kt/V