Epidemiologic data of biopsy-proven renal diseases: Experience from a single center in South India

An analysis of the renal biopsy data is important to understand the regional prevalence of various biopsy-proven renal diseases (BPRDs). We analyzed our renal biopsy registry over a period of 15 years. We retrospectively reviewed all the renal biopsies performed at Arun Kidney Centre, Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, from January 2004 to March 2018. All biopsies were analyzed using immunofluorescence and light microscopy. A total of 924 renal biopsies were considered for the analysis. The mean age of the patients was 32 ± 14.77 years, with a male:female ratio of 1.5:1. Nephrotic syndrome (46.1%) was the most common indication for renal biopsy, followed by rapidly progressive renal failure (11%) and rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis (9.9%). Primary glomerulonephritis (PGN) was the most common entity (66.8%), followed by tubulointerstitial disease (17.5%), secondary glomerulonephritis (SGN) (12.1%), and vascular nephropathies (3.5%). Among cases with PGN, the most common causes were minimal change disease (22.98%), immunoglobulin A nephropathy (21.3%), and membranous nephropathy (17%), whereas the most common SGN was lupus nephritis (60.7%). Acute tubulointerstitial nephritis (61.1%) was the most common tubulointerstitial disease, whereas antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody vasculitis (56.3%) was the most common vascular nephropathy. We also noticed significant changing trends in many nephropathies. Our study provides epidemiologic data regarding the various BPRDs and also the changing trends of the individual renal diseases.