[Epidemiological study in 4 family units with Alport's syndrome]

At the Nephrology Department of the Hospital Infantil de Mexico, four cases of Alport's syndrome. with no relation among themselves, were studied between, June 1978 and November 1979. The diagnosis was based on the presence in the patients, of proteinuria and/or hematuria and in some of the relatives, a history of renal disease, deafness and a variable degree of renal failure; at the renal biopsy examined with electronic microscopy, there were findings compatible with Alport's disease in all four cases. Field studied were carried in the largest possible number of relatives for each family group the clinical viewpoint including measurement of blood pressure, examination of urine with reactive stripes to detect proteinuria and hematuria and audiologic examination. In the group, 130 subjects were studied out of a total of 237; 37% were found affected; 21% complaining of deafness; four female cases (19%) had not reach an uremic condition. From the second group 36 subjects were studied out of 109 members. Fifty per cent were found affected. Three cases had reached an uremic state (15%). Out of the third group with a total of 74 members, 34 cases were studied and 62% were found affected. Two female cases (12%) were complaining of uremia. The third group comprised 60 members and 19 of them were studied finding 13% affected with 2 cases of uremia. There were cases exclusively with renal or auditive involvement or both, at the same time. In our casuistics, most of the cases affected of the kidney or of the auditive apparatus were female patients; likewise, the most severely ill were females. Out of the 106 patients affected of the kidney, there were 11 with uremia and 8 were females. It was noticed that both males and females who were affected, had children of either sex with the same degree of affection, the same as other children with no changes at all; therefore, it is concluded that transmission is by dominant autosomal heredity.