IgA nephropathy: common nephritis leading to end-stage renal failure

IgA nephropathy (IgAN) characterized by mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis with predominant mesangial IgA deposition is the commonest glomerulonephritis worldwide. In contrast to the initial report indicated a favorable prognosis, subsequent reports have shown a highly variable outcome leading to end-stage renal failure (ESRF) in a significant proportion of patients. Many centers report a high incidence (ranging from 10-22%) of patients with idiopathic IgAN amongst the total population of patients on maintenance dialysis. Most of these patients develop ESRF at their middle-age and hence, will pose a significant and important workload in the dialysis and transplantation programme. Because IgAN is a disease with a variable rate of progression leading to chronic renal failure amongst younger patients and with neither effective nor specific treatment, identification of the clinical and pathologic prognostic indicators for these patients is of paramount importance in planning the long-term renal replacement program.