Objective To explore the correlation of serum uric acid (UA) level before dialysis and mortality in patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis.

Methods The clinical data of 140 patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) treated with PD as the first choice of renal replacement therapy in the First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University from January 1, 2001 to December 31, 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were divided into three groups based on the tertile of uric acid level: low UA group (< 387 μmol/L, n=46), middle UA group (387-519 μmol/L, n=44) and high UA group (≥519 μmol/L, n=50). The risk ratio of all-cause death was compared among the three groups, and the survival curve was drawn by the Kaplan-Meier method.

Results For every 20 μmol/L increased in UA, the risk of all-cause death increased by 0.3% (HR=1.003, 95% CI 1.00-1.005, P=0.019). The all-cause mortality in the high UA group was higher than that in the low UA group, HR was 2.3 (95% CI 1.06-5.01, P=0.035), and the value of UA in predicting death risk within 3 years after dialysis was higher.

Conclusions UA may be positively correlated with all-cause mortality in patients undergoing maintenance peritoneal dialysis. The increase of baseline UA may be an independent risk factor for all-cause mortality in those patients indicating that control of the UA level may be helpful to prolong the survival time of patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis.