Spectrum of biopsy proven renal disease in South Asian children: Two decades at a tropical tertiary care centre

Aim We report findings from a large single centre paediatric renal biopsy cohort in South Asia. Methods We analyzed all renal biopsies performed on children aged ≤18 years between 1996 and 2015 at our centre. The clinical characteristics and histological diagnosis pertaining to each case, distribution of renal diseases in children with various clinical presentations, and changes in the pattern of kidney disease during the study period were analyzed. Results A total of 1740 paediatric kidney biopsies were performed during the study period. The mean age was 12.8± 4.9 years (8 months to 18 years) and the male: female ratio was 1.5:1. The most common indication for renal biopsy was nephrotic syndrome (63.2%) followed by acute nephritic syndrome (13%). Minimal change disease was the most common cause of nephrotic syndrome while endocapillary proliferative glomerulonephritis (65.7% infection related), remained the commonest cause of acute nephritic syndrome. IgA nephropathy was the commonest cause of chronic kidney disease. Contrary to trends in European paediatric cohorts, the frequency of lupus nephritis increased over the two decades of the study, while that of endocapillary proliferative glomerulonephritis did not show any appreciable decline. Conclusions This study provides the largest data on biopsy proven renal disease in children from South Asia published till date and highlights important differences in the spectrum and trends of kidney disease compared to data from other regions.