Abstract
OBJECTIVE To document the clinical profile of hemodialysis patients in a tertiary care hospital. METHOD The records of all patients hospitalized in the dialysis unit of the Alnoor Specialist Hospital, Makkah, Saudi Arabia, from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2004 were reviewed. The age, sex, nationality, blood group, causes of renal failure, type of dialysis, evidence of viral infection, anemia and thrombocytopenia were recorded. RESULTS A total 1,357 patients were recorded, with predominance of Saudi nationality, 705 (51.9%), and male sex, 1,227 (90.4%). The age group 26-45 years was represented by 36.3% of the patients, and 686 (50.6%) had blood group O. The leading cause of renal failure was hypertension (45.9%). The majority of patients had HCV+(78.2%), 6.9% had H.sAg+ and HIV was found only in one case, while the remaining patients (14.8%) had no indexes of viral infection. The percentage of patients who received erythropoietin was 71.1%. A hematocrit of <30% was recorded in 55.3% and albumin <30 g/dL in 35.4% of patients. Mortality among hemodialysis patients during the 5 years was 8.84%. CONCLUSIONS The majority of patients on hemodialysis were Saudis and hypertension was the leading cause of end stage renal failure. The recorded mortality over 5 years was less than 10%.