Prevalence and pattern of renal disease in eastern Libya.

Abstract

SUMMARY A prospective study was conducted to identify the pattern and aetiology of kidney disease in children living in eastern Libya. A total of 343 patients was studied, representing 3 % of annual admissions to the children's hospital. The major renal diseases were post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis (in 1 16), acute renal failure (in 93), and idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (in 65). Less common diseases were tubular transport defect (in 3) and end-stage renal disease (in 3). The mortality rate (excluding neonates) was below 1 %. The pattern of kidney disease referred to this hospital in Libya was different from that reported in other parts of Africa.

Presentation and pattern of childhood renal diseases in Gusau, North-Western Nigeria

“…More males presented than females, which was similar to results obtained in Lagos, [6] Libya, [7] Enugu, [9] and Jordan, [11] although the differences were marginal. Complaints on presentation were similar to what was obtained in Sudan, [12] though with varying frequencies.…”

“…The childhood renal diseases identified in our study were similar to what was obtained in studies conducted elsewhere in Nigeria [1,2,5,6,13,14] and the world; [7,[15][16][17] however, with varying rates. This observation could be explained by the fact that environmental factors, such as poor hygiene, poverty, and socioeconomic conditions, as well as genetic factors and late presentation, may have influenced the rates of childhood kidney diseases in our setting.…”

“…Studies from different parts of Nigeria and the world have reported variable patterns of renal diseases in children. Though our prevalence of 3.2% was low and may not be significant, it was similar to the 3.2% obtained in Calabar, [5] 3.9% in Lagos, [6] 3.0% in Libya, [7] and 3.3% in Pakistan. [8] However, it was lower than the 4.0% reported by Okoro et al [9] in Enugu and 6.3% by Bhatta et al [10] in Nepal.…”

Childhood kidney disease in developing countries: Is it a forgotten disease?

“…The most common cause of admission is AKI due to dehydration and septic shock syndromes. [3,4] This has improved owing to the introduction of oral rehydration, but many rural areas still do not have easy access to clean water and sanitation. In South Africa (SA) the three most common causes of AKI in older children are haemolytic uraemic syndrome (35%), acute tubular necrosis (31%) and acute glomerulonephritis (GN) (16%), whereas 39% of AKI is caused by acute gastroenteritis and nephrotic syndrome in Nigeria, [5] and 26% was reported to be due to sepsis and malaria.…”

“…Most mothers in the public health sector do not have access to ultrasonography and are therefore diagnosed late, usually after a UTI, thus compromising kidney function further. [4] One also needs to be alert to the possibility of metabolic and genetic diseases such as renal tubular acidosis, cystinosis, and oxalosis that are sometimes seen in the black African population. The high incidence of premature and small for gestational age (SGA) births in developing countries as a risk factor for kidney disease in adulthood, in the absence of evident kidney disease in early life, has been explained by the Barker hypothesis.…”