Diabetes and end-stage renal disease; a review article on new concepts

It is well established that diabetic nephropathy is the most common cause or in combination with hypertensive nephropathy are the most common causes of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in developed and developing countries. For this review, we used a variety of sources by searching through PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Current Content and Iran Medex from January 1990 up to December 2014. Manuscripts published in English and Persian languages, as full-text articles, and or as abstract were included in the study. Patient survival in diabetics on maintenance renal replacement therapy including hemodialysis (HD), peritoneal dialysis (PD) and kidney transplantation is significantly lower than that seen in nondiabetics with ESRD. The poor prognosis of diabetic patients with ESRD is partly due to presence of significant cardiovascular disease, problems with vascular access, more susceptible to infections, foot ulcer, and hemodynamic instability during HD. Although, many complications related to kidney transplantation may occur in diabetic ESRD patients, multiple studies have found that the kidney transplantation is the preferred renal replacement therapy for diabetic patients with ESRD and it is associated with a much better survival and quality of life than dialysis among these patients.