Descriptive analysis of glomerulonephritis by histological type and their progression among adults in a tertiary care center in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Prevalence of different glomerulonephritides and their clinical course vary geographically. Our objectives are to assess the prevalence of different histological types of glomerulonephritis (GN) based on the light microscopic histology and to assess their progression according to histological type. A retrospective cross-sectional study was carried out among adult patients (>18 years) with a histological diagnosis of GN at the University Professorial Unit over a period of six months. Information including demographic data, renal biopsy findings, and progression of the disease through serum creatinine (SCr) level were collected through existing clinic records of consenting patients. Data were analyzed by Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. There were 109 patients (females = 90) with a mean age of 40.32 ± 15.24 years. The most common histological type was focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) in 27 (24.8%) followed by minimal change disease in 25 (22.9%), mesangioproliferative glomerulonephritis (MesPGN) in 18 (16.5%), membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis in six (5.5%), membranous glomerulonephritis in three patients (2.8%), and crescentic GN in one patient (0.9%). There was a statistically significant rise in SCr level at seven years from the initial presentation in the histological types; FSGS [P = 0.04; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.06–1.0] and MesPGN (P = 0.03; 95% CI = 0.3–0.9). Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis was the most common histology type in the population studied. There was a statistically significant progression of FSGS and MesPGN.