title: Significance of albuminuria in the follow-up of acute poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis.
abstract: The present study was aimed at assessing the diagnostic value of urinary albumin (uA) excretion rate in the long-term follow-up of patients suffering from acute post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis (APSGN). 26 patients, who had presented primarily with nephritic syndrome and showing increased uA without a concomitant rise in total proteinuria (uTP) were followed-up for 131 months on average (range 36-288). At the last check, 14 patients did not show urinary abnormalities, 9 had a persistent increase in uA, 1 increased uTP and 2 renal insufficiency. Urinary and clinical signs of the disease were not seen during observation periods prolonged for 79 months on average (range 20-156) after normalization of uA. No pathological findings were remarked in biopsy specimens obtained in 3 patients when uA was normalized; in contrast, when both uTP and uA (12 cases) or when isolated uA (14 cases) were increased a pattern of diffuse mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis was constantly observed. These results indicate that the abnormal uA excretion rate during long-term follow-up of APSGN allows to identify a subset of patients with persistent renal disease; conversely, the occurrence of normal uA seems to point to a good diagnostic and prognostic significance.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Medicine and Nephrology, University of Parma, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Buzio
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Allegri
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mutti
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Perazzoli
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bergamaschi
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000419:Albuminuria / Q000652:urine*; D001706:Biopsy; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005921:Glomerulonephritis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007668:Kidney / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D013290:Streptococcal Infections / Q000150:complications*