Pattern of steroid resistant nephrotic syndrome in children living in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia: a single center study.

Steroid resistant nephrotic syndrome (SRNS) remains a challenge facing pediatric nephrologists. The underlying histopathology usually affects the course of the disease and the response to treatment. We studied the pattern of histopathology in children with SRNS who presented to the King Abdul Aziz University Hospital (KAUH), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The records of all children with primary SRNS, who were seen between 2002 and 2007 were reviewed. Only patients who had undergone a renal biopsy were included in the study. The histopathology slides were reviewed by two renal pathologists independently. Patients with congenital nephrotic syndrome, lupus or sickle cell disease, were excluded from the study. Thirty-six children fulfilled the inclusion criteria, and included 25 girls and 11 boys with female to male ratio of 2.3:1. Fifty percent of the children (n=18) were Saudi and the remaining 50% were from various other racial backgrounds (9 Asians, 4 Arabs, 2 Africans and 3 from the Far East). Their mean age at presentation was 4.3 +/- 3.0 years (range 1-12 years). The mean serum albumin at presentation was 15.6 +/- 7.1 g/L and all of them had 4+ proteinuria on urinalysis. Five children had elevated serum creatinine at presentation while the mean serum creatinine was 50.4 +/- 45.6 micromol/L. Three children had low serum complement levels at presentation and none were positive for hepatitis B surface antigen or antinuclear antibody (ANA). The renal histopathology was compatible with focal and segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) in 39% (n=14), IgM nephro-pathy in 28% (n=10), mesengioproliferative glomerulonephritis (MesPGN) in 17% (n=6), mini-mal change disease (MCD) and C1q nephropathy (C1qNP) in 8% each (n=3 + 3) and IgA nephro-pathy in 3% (n=1). Our retrospective review shows that FSGS was the commonest underlying histopathology in children who presented with SRNS followed by IgM nephropathy and other variants of MCD such as MesPGN. C1qNP was the underlying cause in some children.