Chronic kidney disease 5 on hemodialysis in Nepal Medical College Teaching Hospital.

Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) 5 is defined when glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is <15.0 ml/min/1.73m2. Though nephrology service was started in Nepal as early as in 1970, we do not have data regarding CKD 5 patients till date. So this study is being undertaken to know the epidemiological profile and etiology of CKD 5 patients attending hemodialysis (HD) unit of Nepal Medical College Teaching Hospital. This is a prospective study which was carried out in HD unit over a period of one year. CKD 5 patients having GFR of <15 ml/min/1.73m2 under HD were included in the study. Among 100 patients included in the study 57 were male and mean age of the study population was 46.9+/-17.9 years. Most common cause of CKD 5 in the study was hypertension (54.0%); other causes included diabetic nephropathy (18.0%), idiopathic (13.0%) and glomerulonephritis (6.0%). Fifty percent of patients were from outside Kathmandu Valley. Around 20.0% of the study population is on regular follow up while 45.0% were lost to follow up. Twenty percent of the patient underwent transplantation and 15.0% of the study population died. Majority of patients were anemic (85.0%). Correction of anemia was done with blood transfusion in 88.0% and only 12.0% received erythropoietin. Hypertension was the leading cause of CKD 5; majority of patients (45.0%) discontinued hemodialysis most probably due to economical constrain; blood transfusion was the main modality of treatment of anemia.