**2.2 Hematocrit-corrected erythrocyte sedimentation rate (Hct-corrected ESR)**

Although ESR is widely used in the general population as an inflammation marker, it was judged to be of no clinical utility in chronic hemodialysis patients in the mid-1980s. So ESR has seldom been studied in patients on hemodialysis. However, in 2001, it was proposed that after correction of ESR values according to Hct levels in hemodialysis patients, Hctcorrected ESR could serve to select the inflammation-afflicted hemodialysis patients from those without this comorbid state (Borawski& Mysliwic, 2001). Supporting that study, while no relationship between ESR and carotid artery intima-media thickness was found, a relationship in hemodialysis patients without comorbidities was found between Hctcorrected ESR and carotid artery intima-media thickness, beyond other inflammatory markers, CRP, and fibrinogen. Although larger additional studies are needed to determine the potential value of Hct-corrected ESR as an inflammatory marker for early-onset atherosclerosis, this relationship may again reflect the role of non-specific inflammation in CV risk of the 'healthy' hemodialysis patients ( Zumrutdal et al., 2005).
