Clinical characteristics and histopathological findings in 120 IgA nephropathy patients in Thailand

The authors reviewed the clinical and pathological findings in 120 IgA-nephropathy (IgAN) patients diagnosed at King Chulalongkorn University Hospital from 1994 to 2005. The average age of the patients was 36 years. Male and female ratio was 1:1.2. Thirty percent of the patients had hypertension. Thirty-four percent of the patients had serum creatinine greater than 1.5 mg/dl and had urine protein greater than 3 g/day. The most common presentation was asymptomatic urinary abnormalities (43%) followed by nephrotic syndrome (36%). Of note, many of the presented patients had advanced pathological classification and high tubulointerstitial (TI) fibrotic score. The clinico-pathological correlation was found significantly between serum creatinine and degree of TI fibrotic score by univariate analyses. Compared to other reports from Asian countries, the presented population had many worse prognostic markers including a decline in renal function, advanced pathologic findings, and high TI fibrotic scores. Further study on prognosis in Thai patients should be performed to help decision making in management of IgAN patients.