IgA nephropathy in Kerala, India: a retrospective study.

This study was conducted to assess the prevalence of IgA nephropathy in Kerala. No published data are available in literature from this part of India. This study included 1592 renal biopsies received from all parts of Kerala over a 2-year period. The age of the subjects ranged from 5 to 78 years old with a peak incidence in the third decade of life. The male:female ratio was 1.2:1. A total of 60% of the cases had presented with hematuria. Direct immunoflourescence was performed using specific antibodies for IgA, IgG, IgM, C3 and C1q. Light microscopic studies with special stains namely PAS, silver and trichrome were also done. A total of 227 cases (14.26% of all renal biopsies) were diagnosed as IgA excluding 12 cases of Henoch-Schonlein Purpura (12.74% in the first year and 15.52% in the second year). The prevalence of IgA nephropathy appears to be increasing in Kerala.