Chronic Renal Failure in India

A prospective study of all new cases of chronic renal failure ( CRF) including inservice referrals was done at our hospital over a period of 1 year from May 1994 to April 1995. The diagnosis of CRFwas based on clinical, laboratory, and radiological features. Kidney biopsies were done when indicated. The patients were subdivided into various etiologic groups of primary renal disease according to standard criteria. There were a total of 835 cases of CRFwith a median age of 43 years (range 10 days to 90 years); 67.8% of them were men. Glomerulonephritis (28.6%), diabetic nephropathy(23.2%), and interstitial nephritis(16.5%) were the most common causes of CRF, followed by obstructive nephropathy(6.4%), benign nephrosclerosis(4.1%), and polycystic kidney disease(2%). However, in patients more than 40 years of age, diabetic nephropathywas the most common cause (36.8%). The cause of CRFwas unknown in 16.2% of the cases. One hundred twenty-one patients (14.5%) had an acute deterioration of their underlyin...