Glomerular Diseases - Part I

Some disease processes that affect the glomerulus are acute and self-limited, whereas others lead to progressive loss of renal function. Glomerular diseases cause more than half the cases of chronic kidney disease. This chapter first briefly reviews normal glomerular structure and function, clinical classifications, terminology, diagnosis, and epidemiology of glomerular disease. Pathogenesis of glomerular injury is discussed, and then more detailed approaches to diagnosis. General principles in the management of glomerular diseases are presented. Specific glomerular diseases and their management, discussed at length, are divided into nephritic, nephrotic, and nephritic-nephrotic syndromes. Figures illustrate the pathogenesis and findings on light microscopy, electron microscopy, and immunostaining of a variety of glomerular diseases, including poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis, IgA nephropathy, anti–glomerular basement membrane disease, focal and segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), membranous nephropathy, and membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis (MPGN).  This review contains 9 figures, 25 tables, and 68 references. Keywords: Glomerulonephritis, nephritic syndrome, nephrotic syndrome, microscopy, urinalysis, proteinuria, hematuria, nephropathy, Henoch-Schönlein purpura, nephritis