The history of nephrology in Tunisia

Nephrology is a relatively recent speciality, which was incorporated in Tunisia during the 1960s by Professor Hassouna Ben Ayed with the introduction of the peritoneal dialysis, the artificial kidney and the renal biopsy in his de­partment of medicine at Charles Nicole Hospi­tal in Tunis. Prof. H. Ben Ayed was one of first Tunisian house doctors of Paris hospitals and senior registrar at time when this spe­ciality did not have an official existence, and he mentored many famous physicians who dealt with renal diseases. It was from his initial practice in Charles Nicolle hospital that neph­rology care was spread to other university hos­pitals of Tunis, Monastir, Sfax and Sousse in addition to the many public and private centers of hemodialysis disseminated in the country.