Morphometric studies of the juxtaglomerular apparatus in perimembranous glomerulonephritis

In 23 cases of perimembranous glomerulonephritis (PGN, membranous nephropathy), the juxtaglomerular cell complex (JGC-complex) in early postmortal (2 cases) and bioptically obtained specimens (21 cases) was investigated quantitatively by planimetry. The results were correlated with the stage of the PGN and the clinical findings. A statistically significant increase in mean size of the JGC-complex was found in perimembranous glomerulonephritis compared with the control group (p smaller than 0.005). Comparing the different morphological stages of PGN, the size of the JGC-complex was increased and the serum creatinine level raised in stages 3 and 4. In hypertensive patients with perimembranous glomerulonephritis, the serum creatinine levels were significantly raised as compared with the normotensive group.