Clinical profiles of chronic renal failure patients at referral to nephrologist

The quality of care of patients with chronic renal failure (CRF) in their pre­dialysis state is known to have a significant impact on the mortality and morbidity of dialysis patients. We evaluated 78 patients with chronic renal disease who were referred to our center for Follow-up of nephrologists between June 2002 and July 2003. We studied the etiology of the disease and the different biological parameters at the time of first nephrology clinic visit. The mean age of the patients was above 52 years. Diabetes mellitus was the leading cause of CRF found in 28% of patients, followed by hypertension in 24% cases. Seventy percent of the patients were in a state of moderate and severe renal failure at referral with mean blood urea nitrogen (BUN) of 22 ± 13 mmol / L, serum creatinine of 390 ± 180 µmol / L and creatinine clearance of 16.8 ± 14.2 ml/min. Our study suggests that the referring physicians should be more aware of the timing of referral of patients with CRF to nephrologists so that optimum pre-dialysis care can be ensured to improve the quality of life and better outcome of CRF patients.