Wetmore JB, et al. - In this retrospective cohort analysis, researchers investigated the difference between factors associated with elective hemodialysis withdrawal and those associated with non-withdrawal death soon after maintenance hemodialysis initiation. Using data from the United States Renal Data System (USRDS) from 2011 to 2014, they identified advanced age and white, as opposed to black, race to have the most strong association with early elective hemodialysis withdrawal compared with non-withdrawal death. However, it remains challenging to differentiate between patients who will experience early withdrawal vs non-withdrawal death, as many factors are similarly associated with both outcomes.