Chronic renal failure in India.

In a series of 2028 patients with chronic renal failure, the diseases leading to renal failure, the presence or absence of reversible factors and their nature, and the rate of decline of renal function of the most common conditions have been described and analysed. Seven diseases: chronic interstitial nephritis (27.85%), diabetic nephropathy (26.76%), chronic glomerulonephritis (18.20%), benign nephrosclerosis (10.06%), chronic pyelonephritis (7.29%), focal glomerulosclerosis (3.20%), and autosomal dominant polycystic disease of the kidneys (2.07%), accounted for 95.43% of all the patients. These diseases were studied in greater detail and the results are presented here. It was found that there was a great variation in the rate of decline of renal function in the different groups, with chronic glomerulonephritis and focal glomerular sclerosis progressing most rapidly, diabetic nephropathy slightly slower, and the others at a less alarming pace. However, once serum creatinine had reached 177 mumol/l there was an inexorable decline in renal function and the end stage was reached in almost all patients.