Spectrum of glomerulonephritis in adult Egyptians: a single-center retrospective study

Abstract

Background Glomerulonephritis (GN) is still the main cause of renal morbidity and mortality in the developing world. Knowledge about the characteristics of GN and its regional trends is mandatory for proper management of chronic kidney disease to decrease the incidence of progression to end-stage kidney disease. The aim of this study is to identify the patterns and frequency of glomerular lesions (biopsy-proven). Patients and methods This is a retrospective study that included 140 adult patients who underwent renal biopsies at Menoufia University Hospitals between August 2017 and December 2019. Patient demographics, clinical, laboratory, and histopathological data were recorded. The obtained data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results The studied patients were 72 (51.4%) males and 68 (48.6%) females, and their mean age was 36.11 ± 14.57 years. Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) was the most frequent cause of primary GN (21.4%) followed by membranous GN (13.6%), minimal change disease (5.7%), and membranoproliferative GN (3.6%). Lupus nephritis (LN) was reported as the most common in secondary GN (18.6%), followed by vasculitis (12.1%), amyloidosis (5.7%), thrombotic microangiopathy (4.3%), and infection-related GN (3.6%). The most common presentation was peripheral edema (80.7%), followed by acute kidney injury (14.3%). FSGS (12.1%) was the most common subtype of primary GN associated with renal insufficiency followed by membranous GN (10%). Vasculitis was the most common subtype of secondary GN associated with renal insufficiency (12.1%) followed by LN (7.1%). Conclusion FSGS and LN are the most common primary and secondary GN, respectively. Nephrotic syndrome and acute kidney injury were the major indications for biopsy. LN carried the best prognosis, while vasculitis carried the worst prognosis.