Spectrum of glomerular disease in iraqi patients from a single center

To evaluate the patterns of glomerular disease in our center, we reviewed and categorized a series of 520 kidney biopsies performed for proteinuric patients between June 1994 and June 2001. There were 445 (85.5%) biopsies labeled as primary glomerular disease, 55 (10.5%) as secondary glomerular disease and 20 (4%) as miscellaneous. The primary glomerular disease included 117 (26.3%) cases of focal segmental glomerulo-sclerosis, 100 (22.5%) of mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis (GN), 76 (17.1%) of minimal change disease, 72 (16.2%) of membranoproliferative GN, 65 (14.5%) of membranous GN, and 15 (3.4%) of rapidly progressive GN. The secondary glomerular diseases included 25 (45.5%) cases of lupus nephritis, 15 (27.3%) of amyloidosis, eight (14.5%) of diabetic nephropathy, six (10.9%) of hereditary nephritis, and one (1.8%) hypertensive nephropathy. Because immunofluorescence was not used, we could not label any biopsy as IgA nephropathy. In conclusion, our study suggests that the patterns of histopathology found in the biopsies of the patients with proteinuria may reflect the patterns in Iraq and may not be different from those in the other Arab countries, especially those in the Middle East.