Pediatric IgA nephropathy: clinical features at presentation and outcome for African-Americans and Caucasians.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the disease severity at onset and outcome for African-American and Caucasian pediatric patients with IgA nephropathy diagnosed at the Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center since 1990.


METHODS
The study population included all patients diagnosed with IgA nephropathy at the Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center from January 1990 through February 2004. All were below age 18 at biopsy. Clinical features assessed at diagnosis were age, gender, presence of hypertension, history of macroscopic hematuria, degree of proteinuria, severity of renal histology and pattern for immunofluorescent reactants.


METHODS
Student's t-test was used to compare age at biopsy and length of follow-up between the 2 groups. Fisher's exact test was used to compare features at presentation and patterns of immunofluorescence. Kidney survival was predicted by the Kaplan-Meier method.


RESULTS
Forty-seven patients (17 African-American, 29 Caucasian) were studied. Clinical features at diagnosis and pattern for all immunofluorescent reactants did not differ significantly between the 2 groups. Mesangial deposition of C1q occurred in 4/17 African-Americans as compared to 1/27 Caucasians (p = 0.06). Four patients (2 African-Americans, 2 Caucasians) progressed to end-stage renal disease. Predicted kidney survival was 96% (94% in African-Americans and 97% in Caucasians) at 1 year and 91% (94% in African-Americans and 89% in Caucasians) at 5 years from diagnosis. Mean time from diagnosis to end-stage renal disease or last follow-up was 3.3 years (3.8 for African-Americans, 3.0 for Caucasians). Macroscopic hematuria occurred prior to diagnosis for 90% of the Caucasian as compared to 61% of the African-American patients (p = 0.03). Urinalysis was normal at last follow-up visit for 24% of African-American patients and 32% of Caucasian patients.


CONCLUSIONS
In a relatively small sample from a single center, except for the difference in macroscopic hematuria, clinical features at diagnosis and outcome of IgA nephropathy appear similar for African-American and Caucasian pediatric patients.
Children's Foundation Research Center at the Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center, Memphis, TN 38103, USA.
K K
KK
Lau
L W
LW
Gaber
N M
NM
Delos Santos
K A
KA
Fisher
S J
SJ
Grimes
R J
RJ
Wyatt
D001741:Black or African American; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D015922:Complement C1q / Q000032:analysis; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005920:Glomerular Mesangium / Q000276:immunology; D005922:Glomerulonephritis, IGA / Q000473:pathology; D006417:Hematuria / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D006977:Hypertension, Renal / Q000150:complications; D007668:Kidney / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D012737:Sex Factors; D044465:White People
D015922:Complement C1q