Abstract
Background and aim: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a common co-morbid and a reason behind patient hospitalization in the medical practice in Saudi Arabia. A variety of neurological symptoms and diseases are associated with both acute and chronic renal damage. Seizure is one of the most commonly reported neurological performances. For this purpose, this study is addressing to estimate the prevalence of seizures among CKD patients, as well as the mortality rate among neurological cases compared to non-neurological cases in the hemodialysis center, King Abdulaziz University (KAU) hospital. Methodology: This is a retrospective study, including 417 patients with CKD. Electronic medical records of patients who were admitted to the hospital from 2016 to 2017 were reviewed. Detailed medical history was obtained. Seizures type, possible triggers, anti-epileptics and occurrence of status epileptics were also investigated. Additionally, MRI and electroencephalography (EEG) findings were utilized in seizures diagnosis. Results: Forty-five patients (11%) of total population (n=417) were found to have neurological complications. Eighty percent of CKD neurological convulsion patients were on hemodialysis. Thirty-one percent of the patients were diagnosed with epileptic EEG discharges and 13% with brain MRI. Seizures were the most common neurological complication accounting for 53% while status epilepticus representing 11%. Out of the 24 patients, seizures triggers were identified in 19patients. Generalized tonic-clonic was more common than partial seizure with 12(50%) and 3(12%), respectively. Other neurological complications were ischemic stroke (38%), hemorrhagic stroke (11%), headache (11%) and peripheral neuropathy (7%). High present of death among neurological patients 24(53%) in comparison to 94 (25%) in patients with non-neurological problems (n=372). Conclusion: It may be concluded that seizure is the main neurological complication of CKD depending on the results of this research. Electrolyte imbalance was the most common seizure cause. Among neurologically affected types of CKD patients, mortality was elevated.