[Renal needle biopsy in the Department of Nephrology in Fès: indications and results in 522 cases]. / Ponction biopsies rénales dans le Service de Néphrologie de Fès: indications et résultats: à propos de 522 cas.

The contribution of renal needle biopsy (RNB) to make a diagnosis, a treatment selection and a prognostic evaluation of nephropathies is significant. No Moroccan study has evaluated the practice and the contribution of RNB. Our aim was to study RNB indications, to determine the frequency of kidney diseases identified by RNB in our region and make a comparison between clinical and biological data and histological diagnosis. This is a retrospective study conducted between January 2009 and December 2012. We included all patients in the Department of Nephrology, CHU Hassan II, Fez, who underwent biopsy of native kidneys. 522 RNB were performed. We excluded 8 biopsies due to lack of informations and 514 were retained. The average age of the patients at the time of RNB was 39±17 years (3-82 years). Sex ratio was 0.9. Nephrotic syndrome was the most common clinical diagnosis to all ages (58.2%). Glomerular nephropathies represent 94,2% of diagnosed renal diseases, their distribution varies according to patients' age. RNB confirmed the first clinically suspected diagnosis in 40.65% of cases, whereas it revealed an unexpected diagnosis in 22.5% of them. Syndromic diagnosis can orient the clinician toward the most probable kidney disease and guide any emergency treatment while awaiting RNB results. But it can never replace RNB which remains the gold standard.

Effects of fasting during Ramadan on renal function of patients with chronic kidney disease.

Fasting during Ramadan is prohibited when an individual's health is endangered. Little work has been published in this direction in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). We aimed to evaluate the impact of fasting during Ramadan on the renal function of patients with CKD, adjusting for the initial degree of renal impairment. We prospectively studied 60 patients with CKD (35 females; mean age 45.6 ± 15.8 years). All study patients were older than 15 years, being followed-up at the nephrology clinic for more than six months, having a stable CKD during the preceding six months and who had fasted during Ramadan the previous year. Patients who had a medical contra-indication for fasting were excluded from the study [severe or resistant arterial hypertension, insulin-requiring diabetes, acute renal failure (ARF), active renal disease, repetitive urolithiasis or terminal chronic renal failure]. Statistical analysis was performed in collaboration with the epidemiology lab at the Fez Medical School using the SPSS software version 17. Three of the study patients developed ARF in the first week and four of them at the end of the month of the study period. The risk of developing ARF was significantly higher for patients with baseline creatinine clearance of <60 mL/min/1.73 m 2 . However, the small sample size does not allow us to draw any firm conclusions on fasting during Ramadan in stable CKD patients. Studies on larger numbers of patients are recommended.