The nephrotic syndrome in Ghana: clinical and pathological aspects

Clinical and pathological features of the nephrotic syndrome were studied in 36 adults and 25 children in Ghana. No evidence was found to implicate Plasmodium malariae as a cause and in the majority of patients the aetiology was not identified. Minimal change glomerulonephritis responsive to steroids was demonstrated in 14/25 children and 5/36 adults which was surprising as this lesion has been reported only rarely from tropical Africa. The other major histological lesions were focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (12/61), diffuse proliferative glomerulonephritis (11/61) and membranous glomerulonephritis (9/61).