The credit for performing the first human dialysis belongs to Georg Haas a German internist and a forgotten dialysis pioneer (PDF link).
In January 1925, in a short report, Haas described some details of this first-ever dialysis of a human being in the history of medicine. As noted in the article, because the attempt was directed only to demonstrate the safety and reliability of the new technology, the procedure lasted only 15 minutes.
In 1928 Hass preformed dialysis on three individuals
Haas performed so-called fractionated dialysis: 400 ml of blood was withdrawn from the patient, heparinized (0.125 g of heparin in 20 ml of a saline solution), and circulated for 30 min through the dialyzer.
The blood was not circulated outside the body, rather it was removed, cleaned and reintroduced to the blood stream. I have never considered that option. 400 ml is about twice the amount that is in the blood circuit at one time in a modern hemodialysis machine.
The procedure was repeated 9 times, and Haas calculated that the total removal of non-protein nitrogen was about 2,772 g. He was also able to demonstrate some uremic substances (indican, creatinine, phenol) in the dialysate bath.
Haas pointed out for the first time the impressive clinical effect achieved, which lasted for 6 days after the dialysis: The patient was of high spirits, free of vomiting and headache, and the appetite improved manifestly.
Hass was the first to demonstrate that hemodialysis did, in fact, work. Happy Birthday Dr. Hass.
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