Report of renal failure treatment in Australia and New Zealand from the dialysis and transplant registry (ANZDATA)

Abstract

Summary: The Australia and New Zealand Dialysis and Transplant Registry (ANZDATA) has recorded 15675 patients resident in Australia and 2909 patients in New Zealand who have been treated by dialysis and transplantation for end‐stage renal failure. the majority of patients have a functioning transplant (51% Australia, 50% New Zealand). Cadaveric organs have been the mainstay of the transplant programme from 1963 to 1993 (91% Australia, 87% New Zealand). In recent years the early graft survival has dramatically improved; the 12 month graft survivals were 74 and 87% in Australia, and 68 and 78% in New Zealand in 1983 and 1992, respectively. A large majority of patients have dialysed at home (49% Australia, 84% New Zealand) or with low level assistance in facilities remote from tertiary level hospital renal units (21% Australia). While most patients use haemodialysis (64% Australia, 41% New Zealand), continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis is the predominant form of dialysis in the home (63% Australia, 70% New Zealand). the demographic analysis displays a slight predominance of males (55.5% Australia, 50.4% New Zealand), and a steadily increasing number of patients over 65 years old (31% Australia, 15% New Zealand), and of diabetics (16% Australia, 31% New Zealand). Aborigines, Maoris and Pacific Islanders have a strikingly higher rate of renal failure per million population than the Caucasoid/Europid population. Certain causes of renal failure such as excess analgesic ingestion and malignant hypertension have declined. Glomerulonephritis has been the most common cause of renal failure in Australia (33%), diabetic nephropathy the most common in New Zealand (31%).