A Clinical Study of Acute Poststreptococcal Glomerulonephritis in Children, from 1994 to 2003

Koo, So Eun; Hahn, Hyewon; Park, Young Seo

Abstract

PURPOSE
Acute poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis (APSGN) is a common form of glomerulonephritis in children. Most patients recover completely after the acute phase but a few patients have acute complications or progress to chronic renal disease. In recent years, the frequency of APSGN has been was decreasing but is still common in children. So we studied the clinical characteristics of APSGN from 1994 to 2003 and compared it with past studies. METHODS: We studied 105 patients who were diagnosed with APSGN in the Department of Pediatrics, Asan Medical Center between January 1994 and December 2003, with a retrospective chart review. RESULTS: The mean age was 8.5+/-2.6 years. The male to female ratio was 2: 1. Average annual incidence was 10.5+/-4.9 most patients (60.0 percent) occurred from October to January. Edema was seen in 82 cases (78.1 percent), gross hematuria in 70 cases (66.7 percent), hypertension in 50 cases (47.6 percent) and oliguria in 22 cases (20.9 percent). Microscopic hematuria was seen in 105 cases (100 percent), positive ASO in 99 cases (94.2 percent), proteinuria in 67 cases (63.8 percent) and azotemia in 38 cases (36.2 percent). Serum complement 3 (C3) level decreased in 96 cases and returned to normal within eight weeks in 70 patients (75.3 percent). Kidney biopsy was carried out in 22 cases. Most acute symptoms subsided within 2 weeks of onset. CONCLUSION: We concluded that there was no significant difference between clinical features of recent and past APSGN in children, and short term prognoses were excellent.