Chronic Nephropathies in the Internal Medicine Department of the Sylvanus Olympio University Hospital

Introduction: The chronic nephropathies constitute a real global public health concern due to the constant increase in the prevalence estimated between 10% and 15%. In Sub-Saharan Africa, this prevalence has been estimated at 13.9%. This study will allow knowing the epidemiological, clinical, paraclinical and etiological aspects of chronic kidney disease in the internal medicine department of CHU-SO Lome. Method: This was a cross-sectional, retrospective and descriptive study. It concerned all the patients suffering from a chronic kidney disease, hospitalized between the 1st of January 2014 and the 31st of December 2018, for a duration of 5 years. Results: During our study, 330 cases of chronic nephropathy were identified. The prevalence of chronic kidney disease was 8.3% of admissions. The mean age of the patients was 46.3 years with extremes of 19 and 86 years and a sex ratio of 1.32. A low socio-economic level of patients was observed in 63.9% with an urban origin in 69.7%. The main risk factors for renal impairment were hypertension (55.2%), diabetes mellitus (29.1%), obesity (20.6%), use of nephrotoxic products (19.4%), HIV infection (17%) and smoking (16.1%). The causes were dominated by nephroangiosclerosis (33.3%), followed by diabetic nephropathy (25.5%) and HIV-associated nephropathy (17%). Chronic renal failure was present in 95.8% of cases and was end stage in 69.7% of cases. Anemia was the main complication during the evolution of chronic kidney disease (98.2%). Mortality was 57.3% during hospitalization. Conclusion: Chronic kidney disease is a fairly common reason for hospitalization in the internal medicine department. Emphasis should therefore be placed on preventive measures for hypertension, diabetes and HIV.