title: Focal glomerulosclerosis in children: an Argentinian experience.
abstract: Twenty-six children presenting with idiopathic nephrotic syndrome and a histological diagnosis of focal glomerulosclerosis were studied retrospectively to evaluate their response to treatment, outcome and clinicopathological correlations. Twenty-two patients (84.6%) were steroid resistant; of these, 8 of the 19 with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis and 2 of the 3 with focal global glomerulosclerosis responded to cyclophosphamide (CY) within 16 weeks of starting therapy. Seven patients relapsed after a CY-induced remission, but 5 of them became steroid responsive. After an average follow-up of 83 months, 17 patients are in remission with normal renal function, 3 patients have persistent nephrotic range proteinuria and 6 patients are in chronic renal failure. Persistence of proteinuria, a high percentage of segmentally sclerotic glomeruli and diffuse mesangial proliferation were indicators of poor prognosis. We believe longer courses of CY therapy than those traditionally utilized are responsible for the relatively good results in our patients.
authors.affiliation: Paediatric Nephrology Section, Hospital Professor Alejandro Posadas, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tufro-McReddie
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Alvarez
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Arrizurieta
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Repetto
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001118:Argentina; D001706:Biopsy; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003520:Cyclophosphamide / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004351:Drug Resistance; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005923:Glomerulosclerosis, Focal Segmental / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009404:Nephrotic Syndrome / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology; D011241:Prednisone / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D003520:Cyclophosphamide; D011241:Prednisone