Clinical and Pathological Findings of Renal Biopsy in Children: Outcomes from a Single Center Over 27 Years

Abstract

Purpose: To classify the results of renal biopsy in pediatric patients and to compare pathological findings with clinical features. Methods: This study included data of 318 children who underwent renal biopsy at our hospital between December 1987 and November 2014. Biopsy specimens were examined histopathologically using light, immunofluorescence, and electron microscopy. Results: Asymptomatic urinary abnormalities was the most common clinical diag nosis (35.9%), followed by nephrotic syndrome (29.3%), and acute glomeru-lonephritis (18.0%). Glomerular disease was identified in 98.1% of the renal biopsy specimens. The most common primary cause of glomerulonephritis was IgA ne-phropathy, with gross hematuria in 61.9% of the patients, hypertension in 14.2%, proteinuria >1.0 gm/24-hr in 33.3%, and impaired renal function in 3.6% patients. Conclusion: The most common clinical diagnosis was asymptomatic urinary abnormalities, with primary glomerular disease being the most common renal biopsy finding, and IgA nephropathy the most common histopathological lesion. This study provides a 27-year overview of pediatric renal disease at our center and underlines the importance of renal biopsy for accurate diagnosis and proper management. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribu tion Non-Commercial License (http:// crea tivecom mons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.