The Fourth International Congress of Peritoneal Dialysis was held in Venice, Italy, June 29 to July 2, 1987. By this time peritoneal dialysis had emerged as a treatment for a substantial fraction of patients with end-stage renal disease and countless numbers of patients with acute renal failure. This treatment is now practiced worldwide and is the life-sustaining treatment for about 40,000 patients with chronic renal failure, representing 15 to 20% of dialysis therapy in about 1000 centers. It is not surprising, therefore, that the number of health professionals engaged in the investigation...