Renal biopsy in nephrotic syndrome
Renal biopsy may be diagnostic in a patient with the nephrotic syndrome:
In adults renal biopsy is performed unless:
- there is a history of diabetes mellitus with progressive renal impairment
- the patient is taking a drug known to cause nephrotic syndrome
In cases of drug-induced nephrotic syndrome the drug is withdrawn; a biopsy is performed only if the patient fails to improve.
Because more than 75% of cases of paediatric nephrotic syndrome are caused by minimal change disease, children are given a trial of steroids unless there are features suggestive of another cause such as:
- persistent microscopic haematuria
- persistent diastolic hypertension
- low serum C3 levels
- a poorly selective differential protein loss
Related pages
Create an account to add page annotations
Annotations allow you to add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation. E.g. a website or number. This information will always show when you visit this page.