Glomerular basement membrane and lamina densa in infants and children: an ultrastructural evaluation.

The glomerular basement membrane and lamina densa are complex structures that change in composition and thickness with age. We studied their ultrastructural morphology in 37 infants and children, from 1 day to 11 years of age, who died without clinical or morphological evidence of renal disease. The glomerular basement membrane and its lamina densa rapidly increase in width during the first 2 years of life, followed by continued, albeit slower, growth during later childhood.