Extracorporeal veno-venous ultrafiltration in congestive heart failure: What’s the state of the art? A mini-review

Table 1 Differences between ultrafiltration and diuretics

Loop diuretics	Isolated ultrafiltration
Hypotonic urine	Isotonic plasma water
Direct neurohormonal activation	No direct neurohormonal activation
Unpredictable elimination of sodium and water	Precise control of rate and amount of fluid removal
Diuretic resistance	Restoration of diuretic responsiveness
Hypokalemia and hypomagnesemia	No effect on plasma concentration of potassium and magnesium
No need for anticoagulation	Need for anticoagulation
No extracorporeal circuit	Need for extracorporeal circuit