Outcome of Renal Tissue Biopsy in Children and Adolescents Presenting with Features of Nephropathy at a Tertiary Hospital in Nigeria

TL;DR

This study examines the causes of kidney disease in children in Nigeria and finds that most cases are linked to a condition called Minimal Change Nephropathy.

Contribution

The study provides updated data on the histopathologic causes of oedematous renal lesions in children in Nigeria over a 14-year period.

Findings

Minimal Change Nephropathy (MCNS) was the most common diagnosis (53.0%) among children with oedematous renal lesions.

Other diagnoses included membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis (7.6%) and post-infectious glomerulonephritis (4.5%).

The male-to-female ratio was 1.2:1, with a mean age of 7.8 years among the patients.

Abstract

Oedematous renal lesions are significant chronic kidney diseases in childhood, with causes that may vary, especially in light of emerging illnesses like coronavirus, environmental pollution, and climate change. This study aimed to determine the histopathologic characteristics of oedematous renal lesions in children seen at a tertiary health facility in north-central Nigeria between January 2010 and December 2023.

This was a prospective study conducted on all children aged 2-18 years who presented with features of oedematous renal lesions between January 2010 and December 2023 at a health facility in north-central Nigeria. All eligible patients underwent renal biopsy.

A total of 66 children with oedematous renal lesions were biopsied, comprising 35 males and 31 females, with a male-to-female ratio of 1.2:1. The age range of the subjects was 2-18 years, with a mean ± standard deviation (SD) of 7.8 ± 3.8 years. Of the 66 patients who consented to the biopsy, the histological findings were as follows: Minimal Change Nephropathy (MCNS)(n= 35, 53.0%), membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis (MPGN) (n=5, 7.6%), post-infectious glomerulonephritis (PSAGN) (n=3, 4.5%), and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS)(n= 2, 3.0%).

This study shows that the predominant histopathologic characteristic of childhood oedematous renal lesions was MCNS in the cohort of children studied.

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