A Prospective Study of Renal Biopsies Performed Over One-year at the Riyadh Armed Forces Hospital

A prospective study of all native kidney biopsies performed over one year at the Riyadh Armed Forces Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia was conducted. During this period, 52 kidney biopsies were performed of which, 49 had adequate tissue. All biopsies were processed for light microscopy, immunofluorescence and electron microscopy. The indications for biopsy included the nephrotic syndrome (n=28; 53.8%), asymptomatic proteinuria (n=12; 21.2%), acute nephritic presentation (n=7; 13.5%) and asymptomatic hematuria (n=7; 13.5%). Primary glomerulonephritis (GN), excluding IgA nephropathy (IgAN) was seen in 34 of the 49 patients (77.6%). Focal and segmental glomerulosclerosis and mesangial proliferative GN were the most common histological diagnoses (31% and 20.4% respectively). Surprisingly, we found a high prevalence of IgA nephropathy (IgAN) of 14.5% in comparison with other studies. The prevalence of mesangiocapillary glomerulonephritis (MCGN) was low (2%) and can only be explained as incidental. The study patients were followed-up for an average of 26.3 weeks. At the end of the observation period, 50% has unchanged course, 37.5% had improved their renal function and protein excretion, and 12.5% had deteriorated. The prognosis of different GN groups and renal survival rate cannot be assessed or calculated in this study because of the relatively short duration of follow-up. Our study further emphasizes the need for a national GN registry and long-term follow-up, in order to recognize the common patterns of GN, their natural histories, the appropriate line of management, and to try and arrest their progression to end-stage renal disease.