Indications and results of renal biopsy in children : a single-center experience from Morocco

Abstract EN

The contribution of renal biopsy (RB) is of major importance in the management of many renal diseases in children.

Specific indications for performing biopsy in children include steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome (NS) and secondary nephropathies.

The aim of our study was to report the common histological varieties of kidney diseases in children in Morocco.

In this retrospective and descriptive study, we included all renal biopsies performed in patients under 16 years in the Department of Pediatrics of Hassan II University Hospital, Fez, Morocco from July 2009 to December 2013.

Biopsy samples without glomeruli and those with less than five glomeruli or repeat biopsies on the same patient were excluded from our study.

We performed 112 RBs during this period; the average age at the time of RB was 10.05 ± 4 years and the sex-ratio was 1.07.

The indications for RB were NS with hematuria and/or renal failure (RF) in 32.1%, active urinary sediment in 21.4%, isolated NS in 15.2%, RF in 13.4% and steroid-resistant NS in 10.7% of cases.

Primary nephropathies represented 59.8% of cases, with a predominance of minimal change disease (MCD) seen in 40.2% of the cases.

Secondary nephropathies accounted for 27.7% of the cases, with a predominance of lupus nephritis (11.6%), followed by Henoch–Schonlein purpura nephritis (6.2% of cases) and post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis (3.6%).

There was one case of hepatitis B virus-associated membranous glomerulonephritis.

Chronic glomerulonephritis accounted for 12.5% of the cases.

Vascular and tubulo-interstitial nephritis were rare.

Our study confirmed that primary glomerular nephropathy was the most common renal disease in children.

The most common lesion was MCD.

Secondary nephropathies were less frequent, with a predominance of lupus nephritis.