[Glomerular nephropathy and schistosomiasis (author's transl)].

Glomerular lesion appears frequently in patients with S. mansoni or S. japonicum infection. This nephropathy may bring clinical changes and leads to severe evolution with letal risk. It may be induced or aggravated by the specific treatment but it has then, in most cases, a short duration and a good prognosis. Specific treatment fixed in order to reduce the amount of circulating antigens may be benefic. In some cases, on the contrary, the nephropathy is not reactive to any specific or symptomatic treatment and has an evolution of its own under the action of various factors; the most important is the hepatosplenic damage. Consequently glomerular function must be controlled in patients with schistosomiasis in order to fix the prognosis and the treatment.