Renal osteodystrophy in end-stage renal failure patients in Israel.

Renal osteodystrophy is one of the major complications in patients on long-term hemodialysis. A group of 42 patients on hemodialysis (mean age 42 yr) were investigated in order to assess the prevalence of renal osteodystrophy in Israeli patients. The patients were examined by X-ray, and 66.7% were found to have signs of osteodystrophy. Of 14 patients without signs of bone involvement, 10 had been on treatment less than 1 yr. A bone biopsy, performed in 28 patients (mean age 43 yr), showed signs of renal osteodystrophy in all. Two of these patients were diagnosed as having mainly osteitis fibrosa, four as having osteomalacia and the rest as having the symptoms of both.