SERIOUS RENAL-DISEASE IN EGYPT

We studied serious renal disease in Egypt by registering all: 155 pati ents coming to the nephrology service at the University of Cairo durin g a period of 62 days in 1993. The patients presented with severe urem ic symptoms. Admission creatinine and urea levels were high, 804 mu mo l/l and 64 mmol/l. Fifteen percent of the patients died; 115; underwen t dialysis. Sixty patients presented with chronic renal failure; 53 wi th acute renal failure, but 24 of these were later found to have end-s tage renal failure. Of 29 patients with true acute renal failure, 11 ( 38%) had pre-renal failure and 7 (24%) post; renal failure. Twenty-one patients were followed up after transplantation and chronic dialysis, another 17 had nephrotic syndrome, 3 hypertension, and one had asympt omatic urinary abnormalities. The most common specific etiology for ch ronic end-stage renal failure was diabetes mellitus type II in the old er patients; second most common was Schistosoma in the younger ones. M ost diabetic patients came from the city. All but one Schistosoma pati ent came from rural Egypt. In the 22 patients who underwent renal biop sy the most common diagnosis was mesangio capillary glomerulonephritis . The prevalence of acute renal failure, particularly iatrogenic-toxic , is increasing.