Peritoneal transport characteristics of 20 long-term (LT) patients with a mean duration on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) of 60 months were compared with those of 20 matched patients who recently started (RS) CAPD (mean 39 days, range 11–63). Mass transfer area coefficients (MTC) of creatinine, glucose and inulin were higher in the LT group than in the RS group (12.1 versus 9.2 ml/min, p 2-macroglobulin were lower in the LT group (13 versus 25 μl/min; p