Fig. 2

Changes in the systolic blood pressure (SBP) at the start of the HD session (A), the diastolic blood pressure at the start of the HD session (B), the proportion of patients with an SBP of less than 90 mmHg at the start of the HD session (C), the proportion of patients with an SBP of less than 90 mmHg during the HD session (D), the heart rate at the start of the HD session (E), and the proportion of patients with disturbed consciousness (JCS ≥ 10) were examined in 65 HD patients over 10 serial HD sessions prior to death. Data were collected from the 10th HD session before death (−10) until the last HD session (L). Differences were tested using a Kruskal–Wallis one-way ANOVA on Ranks with Dunn’s post hoc test (A, B), a χ² test (C, D, F), or a one-way ANOVA (E). *P < 0.05 compared to the last HD session