Has the incidence of childhood steroid sensitive nephrotic syndrome changed?

Nephrotic syndrome is among the most common types of pediatric kidney disease. However, there are few published data on its incidence and racial patterns. This study examines the incidence and racial patterns of childhood steroid sensitive nephrotic syndrome (SSNS). For the period 1/1/1996 to 12/31/2006, a retrospective chart review was performed of children less than 10 years of age who presented to Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis, TN with newly diagnosed SSNS. At the time of diagnosis, 38 children were found to reside in Shelby County, TN, with 31 children residing within the Memphis city limits. The annual incidence of SSNS in Shelby County was 2.4 cases/100,000 children. The incidence was higher in males (4.0/100,000) (p = 0.0002), children less than 5 years of age (3.6/100,000) (p = 0.007), and African Americans (3.7/100,000) compared to Caucasians (0.9/100,000) (p = 0.00006). These findings confirm that SSNS is a rare pediatric disease. They also suggest that the incidence of SSNS in Shelby County is comparable to that in prior reports. Our study is one of the first to show that SSNS may be more common in African Americans.