[Nephropathy in Schönlein-Henoch purpura]

Over one hundred patients diagnosed with vascular purpura at the National Institute of Pediatrics between 1979 and 1988 were retrospectively studied. Frequency was similar for both sexes. 82% were between the ages of six months and 11 years old. The extrarenal clinical manifestations were: petechias in 98%; abdominal pain 78% arthralgias 45%; melena 39%; and arthritis in 19% of the cases, 49 patients had nephropathy of different degrees and they did differently, 32 had hematuria with or without proteinuria within a nephrotic range, seven suffered from a nephrotic syndrome, one with a nephritic syndrome and nine others had a combination of two or three syndromes (nephritic/nephrotic/renal failure) with an unfavorable evolution towards terminal renal failure in eight of them; on the other hand, this was not seen in the remaining patients. Thirteen renal biopsies were taken from patients with more severe clinical manifestations, finding in them mesangial proliferation or endo- and extracapillary proliferation. These findings suggest that the initial clinical presentation of the illness allows for the prediction of the future.