[Chronic kidney failure in Togo: clinical, laboratory, and etiological aspects]

Determine clinical, laboratory, and etiological aspects of chronic kidney failure (CKF) in Togo.

This retrospective study was focused on the 11-year period from 1st January 1995 to 31st December 2005. Review was carried out on the medical files of 398 patients hospitalized for CKF in various departments of Lomé-Tokoin University Hospital. For lack of kidney biopsy findings, nephropathy was classified on the basis of semiological criteria.

Male predominance with a sex ratio of 1.34 was noted. Mean age was 42.6 years. Most patients presented extrarenal signs including hematological changes (94.5%), digestive tube manifestations (68.3%), and cardiovascular disease (55%). Most patients (75.5%) had end-stage disease with creatinine clearance below 10 ml/min. Ultrasound demonstrated stage III kidney damage in 42.8% of cases. Chronic glomerulonephritis (40.2%) was the main etiology, followed by chronic interstitial kidney failure (20.9%) and nephroangioscerosis (17.6%).

The clinical and laboratory presentation of CKF in Togo is unremarkable but has a rich semiological background.