Profile of Diabetic Patients with End-stage Renal Failure Requiring Dialysis Treatment at the King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah.

The aim of this study was to know the characteristics and risk factors of 13 diabetic patients (8 males and 5 females) undergoing chronic hemodialysis (HD) at the King Abdulaziz University Hospital in Jeddah during the last one and half years. The 13 diabetic patients who were included in the study constituted 31% of the total patients on HD. The median age was 50.7 year (33-60 years) with M: F ratio of 1.6:1, and Saudi to non-Saudi ratio of 1:1.8. The mean duration of diabetes mellitus (DM) was 12.15 year (3-28 years). Almost half of these patients required HD within 10 years of diagnosis of diabetes. The mean age at starting HD was 46.9 year (33-59). All patients were hypertensive, and 46% were hyperlipidemic. History of smoking was present in 38.5% (5 patients, all men). Complications of diabetes were documented in almost all patients, proliferative retinopathy in 53.8%, bilateral cataract in 15.4%, while one patient had total blindness. There was clinical evidence of peripheral neuropathy and ischaemic heart disease in 30.4% of patients, whereas stroke and gangrenous foot were each seen in 7.7% of patients. Our brief report confirms that DM contributes significantly to end stage renal disease. This could be attributed to poor glycemic control, inadequate treatment of hypertension, high smoking rate and inadequate screening for micro-albuminuria.