Assessment of glomerular size in renal biopsies including minimal change nephropathy and single kidneys

A method of assessing glomerular size on sections of post-mortem kidney was adapted for use on needle biopsies of kidney. A semi-automatic image analyser was used to measure the cross-sectional area of the outline of Bowman's capsule on all glomeruli in renal biopsies. The mean of approximately the largest 25 per cent of areas was calculated. The method was used to compare glomeruli in 13 control patients without obvious structural abnormalities with those in 10 patients with a single kidney, 22 with minimal change nephropathy, and 20 with membranous nephropathy. Patients were at least 14 years old. Glomeruli in minimal change nephropathy were significantly smaller than those in all other groups. Glomeruli in single kidneys were significantly larger than those in all other groups. Glomeruli in membranous nephropathy were the same size as controls. Any differences between groups could not be explained by differences in body build. It is possible that in adults glomeruli in minimal change nephropathy are abnormally small. The method of assessing glomerular size can be used on renal biopsies as well as on sections of whole kidney.