BACKGROUND: The reported incidence of biopsy-proven primary glomerulonephritis (PGN) varies according to geographical, temporal and environmental factors. Consequently, the development of national/regional registers may help clinicians and researchers to improve knowledge about this important clinical condition. METHODS: To better define the epidemiology of PGN in our North-Eastern Italian area (∼5 million inhabitants), we evaluated the kidney biopsy records of 2680 adult patients with PGN diagnosis reported from 1998 to 2010 in the 'Triveneto' Register of Renal Biopsies. RESULTS: Statistical analysis showed that the mean age of patients undergoing renal biopsy was gradually increased from 1998 to 2010 (R(2) = 0.82, P < 0.01) with a growing percentage of those aged over 65 years (R(2) = 0.72, P < 0.01). According to the clinical presentation of our PGN patients, we found a significant increase in biopsies performed for acute renal failure (P < 0.01) and a decrement of those for macroscopic haematuria (P < 0.01) and nephritic syndrome (P = 0.04). Moreover, although there has been an unchanged total annual rate of biopsy-proven PGN (P = 0.47), there has been a significant enhancement in the incidence of minimal change disease (MCD, P = 0.04) and extracapillary proliferative glomerulonephritis (ExGN, P = 0.03) over time primarily due to a progressive increase in the mean age of patients affected by both renal diseases. Immunoglobulin A (IgA) nephropathy was the most common glomerulonephritis. CONCLUSIONS: Therefore, even if the number of PGN did not diminish during the 13-year study period, we reported considerable changes in the demographical and clinical characteristics of our biopsied patients (older and with acute kidney injury). Additionally, we found a change in the bioptic pattern of our patients over time with a progressive rise of some histological features such as MCD and ExGN. This may reflect not only the progressive ageing of our nephrology patients, but also a change in the biopsy policy of local hospitals.
BACKGROUND: The reported incidence of biopsy-proven primary glomerulonephritis (PGN) varies according to geographical, temporal and environmental factors. Consequently, the development of national/regional registers may help clinicians and researchers to improve knowledge about this important clinical condition. METHODS: To better define the epidemiology of PGN in our North-Eastern Italian area (∼5 million inhabitants), we evaluated the kidney biopsy records of 2680 adult patients with PGN diagnosis reported from 1998 to 2010 in the 'Triveneto' Register of Renal Biopsies. RESULTS: Statistical analysis showed that the mean age of patients undergoing renal biopsy was gradually increased from 1998 to 2010 (R(2) = 0.82, P < 0.01) with a growing percentage of those aged over 65 years (R(2) = 0.72, P < 0.01). According to the clinical presentation of our PGNpatients, we found a significant increase in biopsies performed for acute renal failure (P < 0.01) and a decrement of those for macroscopic haematuria (P < 0.01) and nephritic syndrome (P = 0.04). Moreover, although there has been an unchanged total annual rate of biopsy-proven PGN (P = 0.47), there has been a significant enhancement in the incidence of minimal change disease (MCD, P = 0.04) and extracapillary proliferative glomerulonephritis (ExGN, P = 0.03) over time primarily due to a progressive increase in the mean age of patients affected by both renal diseases. Immunoglobulin A (IgA) nephropathy was the most common glomerulonephritis. CONCLUSIONS: Therefore, even if the number of PGN did not diminish during the 13-year study period, we reported considerable changes in the demographical and clinical characteristics of our biopsied patients (older and with acute kidney injury). Additionally, we found a change in the bioptic pattern of our patients over time with a progressive rise of some histological features such as MCD and ExGN. This may reflect not only the progressive ageing of our nephrology patients, but also a change in the biopsy policy of local hospitals.
Authors: Richard A Lafayette; Pietro A Canetta; Brad H Rovin; Gerald B Appel; Jan Novak; Karl A Nath; Sanjeev Sethi; James A Tumlin; Kshama Mehta; Marie Hogan; Stephen Erickson; Bruce A Julian; Nelson Leung; Felicity T Enders; Rhubell Brown; Barbora Knoppova; Stacy Hall; Fernando C Fervenza Journal: J Am Soc Nephrol Date: 2016-11-07 Impact factor: 10.121
Authors: Wim Laurens; Dries Deleersnijder; Amélie Dendooven; Evelyne Lerut; An S De Vriese; Tom Dejagere; Mark Helbert; Rachel Hellemans; Priyanka Koshy; Bart Maes; Lissa Pipeleers; Amaryllis H Van Craenenbroeck; Steven Van Laecke; Johan Vande Walle; Marie M Coutteneye; Johan De Meester; Ben Sprangers Journal: Clin Kidney J Date: 2022-01-29
Authors: Xin Xu; Guobao Wang; Nan Chen; Tao Lu; Sheng Nie; Gang Xu; Ping Zhang; Yang Luo; Yongping Wang; Xiaobin Wang; Joel Schwartz; Jian Geng; Fan Fan Hou Journal: J Am Soc Nephrol Date: 2016-06-30 Impact factor: 10.121
Authors: Ladan Zand; Pietro Canetta; Richard Lafayette; Nabeel Aslam; Novak Jan; Sanjeev Sethi; Fernando C Fervenza Journal: Kidney Int Rep Date: 2019-10-31