Nephrotic syndrome in Saudi infants in the first year of life

Sixteen Saudi children with onset of nephrotic syndrome in infancy were seen at King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh over a 5-year period. This figure represented 17% of the 92 cases of childhood nephrotic syndrome seen during the period. Onset of the nephrotic syndrome was less than or equal to 3 months of age in four patients. Ten of the patients developed renal failure. Eight patients died, seven of them by 1 year of age. Two patients given renal transplants have functioning grafts without recurrence of the disease. Renal biopsy in 12 patients showed congenital nephrotic syndrome of the Finnish type (4 cases), 2 each of congenital glomerulosclerosis, mesangioproliferative glomerulonephritis and minimal change disease, and 1 each of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis and tubular amyloidosis. Prognosis of infancy-onset nephrotic syndrome in Saudi children was poor. A significant prognostic factor appeared to be the age of onset of the disease rather than the histological lesion.