The spectrum of biopsy-proven secondary glomerular diseases: A cross-sectional study in China


The distribution of the spectrum of chronic kidney disease (CKD) has been found to vary with time. Limited information is available regarding the changing spectrum of secondary glomerular diseases (SGDs). To further investigate changes in the spectrum of SGDs, we performed a cross-sectional study.

From June 2010 to May 2015, 5,935 patients from 37 hospitals in Shandong Province were involved in this study. The study was divided into five periods according to 1-year intervals. The patients were divided into four age groups.

Of the 5,935 patients with qualified specimens, 1,038 (17.5%) were diagnosed with a SGD. Lupus nephritis (LN) (27.6%) was the most frequently identified SGD, followed by Henoch-Schönlein purpura glomerulonephritis (HSPN) (21.7%) and diabetic nephropathy (DN) (21.6%). The prevalence rate of DN demonstrated an increasing trend, and this condition became the leading cause of renal biopsy in period 3 (29.3%). The proportion of patients with hepatitis B virus-associated nephritis (HBVAN) decreased from 14.7% in period 2 to 5.1% in period 5 (p < 0.001). The proportion of patients with amyloidosis nephropathy (AN) increased from 2.2% in period 1 to 7.0% in period 5 (p = 0.088). The prevalence rate of DN was 0.6% in pediatric patients and 40.7% in elderly patients (p < 0.001).

In our study, SGD was the second leading cause of renal biopsy. The distribution of the spectrum of SGD varied with time and age. Given the possibility of a detection bias, larger prospective cohort studies are needed in the future.
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