Acute glomerulonephritis with the nephrotic syndrome.

Five cases in children of acute glomerulonephritis associated with mild and transient nephrotic syndrome are described. At the beginning of the illness each patient developed more marked edema than usually seen, marked proteinuria, hypoproteinemia, hypoalbuminemia and hyperlipemia and thus presented the characteristic features of the nephrotic syndrome. A diagnosis of acute glomerulonephritis was established by (a) the short duration of the disease, (b) the presence in four of the five patients of elevated titers of antistreptolysin O and the presence of beta hemolytic streptococci in throat cultures, and (c) followup examination, which showed that all had recovered completely without exacerbations. Mild nephrotic syndrome may complicate approximately 4 to 5% of cases of acute glomerurlonephritis in children.