Clinical and pathological features of idiopathic membranous nephropathy in adults

Objective:To investigate the clinical and pathological features of idiopathic membranous nephropathy (IMN) in Chinese adults. Methods:Two hundred and sixty four patients with membranous nephropathy from 1986 to 1997 were selected in this study. The clinical and pathological finding were compared among patients in different age groups with student t test. Results: (1) Patients between 21 and 40 years old were inclined to membranous nephropathy. (2) One hundred and six out of 264 patients had heavy proteinuria at presentation. Hypertension was found in 35 out of 264 patients. Renal insuffiency occured in 7.7% of the patients at the time of renal biopsy.Microscopic hematuria was found in 40.2% of them. Seventy four patients(28.0%) presented nephrotic syndrome. (3) Six of 37 patients had deterioration of renal function during the mean period of 49 months follow up. (4) Patients of stage Ⅰ,Ⅱ,Ⅲand Ⅳ of IMN accounted for 42.3%, 48.7%, 6.0% and 3.0%, respectively. Depositions of glomerular IgG,C 3 and C 1q were found in 93.2%, 98.8% and 58.3% of the patients. Conclusion: IMN often occurs at the age of 21 to 40 years in Chinese patients. The incidence of hypertension,microscopic hematuria and renal insufficiency is similar to that of other countries, while nephrotic syndrome is uncommon. [