The number of patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) requiring renal replacement therapy (RRT) has been increasing worldwide. Many efforts to prevent ESRD have been made, including the establishment of the new global concept of chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, there are more than 2 million patients requiring maintenance hemodialysis (HD), peritoneal dialysis, or kidney transplantation. HD has had a long history for several decades since it was clinically introduced. There have been numerous advances in the methods and the equipment used in HD, such as the following: the development of high performance membranes, the introduction of hemodiafiltration (HDF), the development of various novel drugs to prevent secondary hyperparathyroidism, and the use of erythrocyte stimulating agents. With these relatively new procedures, there are often problems to innovate. While some HD-associated problems have been resolved, most of them remain unresolved. To improve the prognosis of hemodialysis patients and to prevent various types of complications, more innovations and further modifications for HD are necessary. There are some refined methods, techniques, and solutions to improve HD which are carried out in limited or localized hospitals and HD facilities in some particular areas; however, most such methods are not yet well known and have not been introduced or tried in other hospitals or HD facilities in other countries.

Therefore, we invite clinical researchers and investigators to contribute to the original research articles as well as review articles that will stimulate the field and contribute to the understanding of the current HD-associated problems. Such contributions will lead to solutions and novel developments to overcome various insuperable HD-associated problems. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• CKD-MBD
• Anemia
• HD session frequency and length
• Overlapping and/or superimposed infections
• The use of herbal or alternative medicines

Before submission authors should carefully read over the journal’s Author Guidelines, which are located at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/tswj/guidelines/. Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their complete manuscript through the journal Manuscript Tracking System at http://mts.hindawi.com/submit/journals/tswj/nephrology/hapc/ according to the following timetable: