Comparison of oral steroids with tonsillectomy plus steroid pulse therapy in patients with IgA nephropathy

Treatment of IgA nephropathy (IgAN) in Japan has recently changed, from oral prednisolone (oPSL) to tonsillectomy plus steroid pulse (TSP) therapy. However, a few studies have compared their efficacy and safety.

IgAN patients diagnosed in our institution between 1991 and 2013, treated with TSP or oPSL, aged ≥16 years, with ≥1 g/day proteinuria, and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) ≥30 ml/min/1.73 m², and no other renal disease were selected. Baseline clinical and histological findings, clinical outcomes, and adverse events were compared. Clinical remission (CR) was defined as <0.3 g/day proteinuria and <5 urinary red blood cells per high-powered field.

Sixty-six patients were identified; after propensity score adjustment, 26 patients were selected in each group. CR rates were significantly higher at 12 (30.8 % vs. 3.9 %), 36 (47.3 % vs. 7.9 %), and 72 (57.8 % vs. 20.1 %) months (p < 0.01), and the renal survival rate, defined as the development of a 25 % reduction from baseline eGFR, was significantly higher at 12 (96.2 % vs. 69.2 %), 36 (96.2 % vs. 61.5 %), and 72 (96.2 % vs. 41.0 %) months in the TSP than the oPSL group (p < 0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that TSP was the only independent factor associated with CR (hazard ratio, 3.58; 95 % confidence interval, 1.32-10.91, p = 0.01). The number of patients with adverse events was significant lower in TSP group than in oPSL group (11.5 % vs. 34.6 %, p = 0.04).

CR rates are higher; protection of renal function and prevention from adverse events were superior with TSP than with oPSL in patients with IgAN and moderate-to-severe proteinuria.