Chronic Renal Failure among Children in Riyadh Military Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

In a retrospective survey, 75 children with chronic renal failure (CRF) referred to our renal unit during 1989-2002 were studied. Their ages ranged from 10 days to 14 years (male to female ratio 1.7:1) and 64% of the cases were under one year of age. The mean annual incidence of CRF was 7.14%. All the patients had irreversible levels for creatinine corresponding approximately to a glomerular filtration rate less than 50 ml/min/1.73 m 2 . The main etiological groups of primary renal disease were malformation of the urinary tract (45.3%), renal hypoplasia/dysplasia (18.7%), hereditary disorders (9.3%), glomerulopathies (6.7%), nephrotic syndrome (5.3%), while urinary system anomalies only made up 2.5% of the cases. The remaining (12%) had CRF of unknown etiology. Twenty-eight patients were treated for CRF of whom 13 patients were started on ambulatory peritoneal dialysis and five, on hemodialysis. Seven patients have undergone transplantation and three died.