The risk of thromboembolic events in patients with nephrotic syndrome and relatively high albumin levels: a study over 10 years

Low albumin level is a risk factor for thromboembolic events in patients with NS (nephrotic syndrome). However, little is known about the proportion and characteristics of patients with NS who experience thromboembolic events with relatively high albumin levels (≥ 25 g/L). Therefore, we explored the features of this specific group of patients. This study included all hospitalized patients in our center for the past 10 years who had diagnoses of NS and relevant thromboembolic events. We divided them into 2 groups based on their serum albumin level when the thromboembolic event occurred. The clinical data were analyzed with SPSS software. There were 312 patients enrolled in our study. Eighty-four (26.9%) of them had relatively high albumin levels (≥ 25 g/L). Patients with NS with high albumin levels had significantly lower levels of 24-h proteinuria (P < 0.01) and a higher rate of autoimmune disease (P = 0.03) than the low-albumin group. Membranous nephropathy (MN) was the most frequent pathological type of NS in patients with thromboembolic events, regardless of their albumin level. There were significantly fewer patients with anti-PLA2R (M-type phospholipase A2 receptor)-positive MN in the high-albumin group than in the low-albumin group (P < 0.01). Our study found that there was still a high risk for patients with NS and relatively high albumin levels to develop thromboembolic events.