Italian Registry of Dialysis and Transplantation (First Report)

The Italian Registry of Dialysis and Transplantation (RIDT) was born in 1996 on the initiative of the Italian Society of Nephrology and its Informatic Group. It collects the experience and data of the 20 Regional Registries, with the objective of providing a comprehensive overview of the treatment of uraemia throughout the country. The aims of this first survey were to identify the number of patients receiving Renal Replacement Therap), (RRT) as of 31/12/1995 (prevalence) and, during 1995 (incidence) those who began RRT, those who underwent renal transplantation and those who died. The survey covered 597 Italian Nephrology and Dialysis centers with a distribution rate of 10.4 prop. The total number of patients receiving RRT for ESRD as of 31/12/1995 was 40,125, of whom 33,698 (84%) were on dialysis and 6,427 (16%) had undergone renal transplantation with an overall prevalence of about 700 patients pmp (588 on dialysis and 112 on transplants). During 1995, 6, 748 ESRF patients started RRT (118 pmp), and 885 new transplants were performed (23 pmp). Seventy-six percent of the dialysis patients were receiving hospital treatment, 11.4% were on home treatment (10.4% on CAPD and 1% on home HD), 12.6% were attending limited care centers. The gross mortality rate in 1995 was about 11%, the main causes of death being cardiovascular (55%). Within the limits implied by any initial data collection, the present survey offers a reasonably complete picture of RRT in ESRF in Italy.