title: Focal sclerosing glomerulopathy. Risk factors of progression and optimal mode of treatment.
abstract: Focal sclerosing glomerulopathy and especially focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) have been recognized as a distinct clinical entity, however, there still exist controversies in terms of prognostic risk factors of progression and optimal mode of treatment. A total of 32 patients (2 with focal global sclerosis; FGS, the remainder with FSGS) were followed up for a mean period of 82 months (3-240 months). Fourteen presented with nephrotic syndrome and 18 had proteinuria with or without hypertension. Thirteen patients, all of whom except 1 were nephrotic, received steroid treatment with or without other immunosuppressive agents (cyclophosphamide/cyclosporin A/azathioprine). Three of the steroid-treated remained stable in complete remission; 5 nephrotic non-responders had renal death. The mean slope of 1/creatinine versus time for steroid-treated and non-treated groups was -0.23 and -0.043, respectively (p = 0.04), suggesting that nephrotic range proteinuria might be prognostically important. However, for the population of FSGS/FGS as a whole, only the initial serum creatinine predicted renal survival (p = 0.001 by Cox's regression model). Hypertension and hypercholesterolaemia were not important variables by themselves. Nevertheless, we found that the 9 patients treated with antihyperlipidaemics (gemfibrozil/probucol/cholestyramine/maxEPA) fared better, mean slope being -0.023 versus -0.103 for non-treated, though not reaching statistical significance (p = 0.96). Controlled prospective study involving a larger number of patients might be worthwhile.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital.
authors.forename: P C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: K W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: I K
authors.initials: IK
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: M K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Chan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003520:Cyclophosphamide / Q000008:administration & dosage; D016572:Cyclosporine / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D005923:Glomerulosclerosis, Focal Segmental / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007677:Kidney Function Tests; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009404:Nephrotic Syndrome / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D011241:Prednisone / Q000008:administration & dosage; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D016572:Cyclosporine; D003520:Cyclophosphamide; D011241:Prednisone