Frequency of kidney diseases and clinical indications of pediatric renal biopsy: A single center experience

Kidney biopsy occupies a fundamental position in the management of kidney diseases. There are very few renal pathology studies available in the literature from developing world. This study scrutinized the frequency and clinicopathological relationship of kidney biopsies done at the kidney center from 1997 to 2013 amongst pediatric patients. Kidney allograft biopsy were excluded. The specimen was examined under light microscopy and immunofluorescence while electron microscopy was not done. The study includes 423 patients, mean age was 10.48 ± 4.58 years, males 245 (57.9%) were more than females 178 (42.1%). Nephrotic syndrome 314 (74.2%) was the most common clinical presentation followed by acute nephritic syndrome 35 (8.3%) and acute renal failure 24 (5.7%). Primary glomerulonephritis (PGN) was the most common group of diseases, seen in 360 (85.1%) followed by secondary glomerulonephritis (SGN) in 27 (6.4%) and tubulointerstitial nephritis in 21 (5.0%). Among PGN, minimal change disease (MCD) was the most dominant disease, with 128 (30.3%) cases followed by focal segmental glomerulosclerosis FSGS in 109 (25.8%) and membranous glomerulonephropathy in 27 (6.4%). Lupus nephritis (LN) was the leading cause of glomerular disease in SGN followed by hemolytic uremic syndrome. In conclusion, MCD is the most common histological finding, especially in younger children and FSGS is second to it. SGN is rare, and the most common disease in this category is LN while tubulointerstitial and vascular diseases are infrequent.