The prevalence of acute kidney injury in neonates with birth asphyxia is higher in the Democratic Republic of Congo than in Western countries.

AIM: There is very little data on acute kidney injury in neonates in Africa. The aim of this study was to describe the frequency of acute kidney injury and the outcome in neonates admitted to hospital for asphyxia in the Democratic Republic of Congo. METHODS: A descriptive study was conducted in the country's capital Kinshasa. Acute kidney injury was diagnosed within three days of life when the creatinine clearance was ≤16 mL/min/1.73 m². RESULTS: Acute kidney injury occurred in 54.3% of the 35 neonates with severe perinatal asphyxia and 31.4% of the 35 neonates with moderate perinatal asphyxia, and this rate was higher than the prevalence reported in Western countries. Prerenal acute kidney injury occurred in 12 (40%) of the 30 neonates with acute kidney injury. The frequency of oliguria was significantly higher in neonates with severe perinatal asphyxia than moderate perinatal asphyxia (73.7% vs. 45.5%), and mortality was also higher in neonates with severe rather than moderate perinatal asphyxia (57.9% vs. 36.4%). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of acute kidney injury was higher in asphyxiated patients in the Democratic Republic of Congo than in Western countries. It was also higher in neonates with severe rather than moderate perinatal asphyxia.

A rare occurrence of neonatal nephroblastoma in sub-saharan Africa: a case report and management in a resource-constrained region.

Neonatal nephroblastoma has been rarely reported in African neonate. A premature newborn (a 5-day-old male) was transferred with a history of neonatal abdominal mass. Ultrasonography revealed 75×46 mm, well-defined mass with mixed echogenicity replacing the right kidney. The patient underwent right radical nephrectomy and the tumor was confirmed to be a blastemal predominant Wilms' tumor by the histopathological examination and has an unfavorable prognosis. The child died secondary to multiple organ failure, three days after surgery. Our case report serves to remind us the need to bear in mind the possibility of the diagnosis of neonatal nephroblastoma in neonate with renal mass.