| Summary: | Twenty percent of patients with type-2 diabetes mellitus without albuminuria progress to chronic kidney disease (CKD). The various factors related to development of CKD, the natural course of renal dysfunction as well as mortality in this sub-group of diabetics has not been studied in detail. The medical records of 121 patients (all males) above the age of 40 years with type-2 diabetes mellitus and CKD, and without proteinuria, were reviewed in this retrospective study. The outcomes measured included: (a) all-cause mortality, (b) need for hemodialysis (HD), (c) appearance of proteinuria and (d) trend in kidney function. The all-cause mortality was 33%, with mean age at death being 75.9 years. Sixty-three percent of the patients had improvement in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) at the end of the follow-up period. The mortality was higher in patients with worsening eGFR compared with those with improvement in eGFR (61% vs 39%, P = 0.040). 5.8% of the patients ended up on HD and 16.51% developed proteinuria at the end of the follow-up period. Patients who developed proteinuria showed a higher tendency for progression of renal failure. Multivariate logistic regression for trend toward improving versus worsening of the eGFR revealed no statistically significant predictors. This observational study suggests that in type-2 diabetic patients with CKD, a substantial number of patients will have improvement in eGFR over time. Careful search for potential reversible causes of kidney damage could help in reducing mortality.
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