title: Renal biopsy in the elderly: a single-center experience.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Aging population has been increasing worldwide. So the number of elderly patients presenting with kidney disease has also been increasing. In this retrospective study, we assessed biopsy results of elderly patients and their clinical presentations.
  
  
  METHODS
  Native renal biopsy results of 98 elderly patients (≥65 years) were analyzed. These 98 patients consisted of 56 males (57.1 %) and 42 females (42.9 %) with a mean age of 70.59 ± 5.31 years (65-88 years).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The clinical presentations of our elderly patients were nephritic syndrome (n = 45), acute kidney injury (n = 35), nephrotic syndrome (n = 33), chronic kidney disease (n = 32) and combined nephritic and nephrotic syndrome (n = 14). In patients with nephritic syndrome, the most common diagnosis was crescentic GN (17.8 % type 3 and 13.3 % types 1 and 2). Crescentic GN was also the most frequent among patients with acute kidney injury (37.1 %), while membranous nephropathy was the major histopathological diagnosis in chronic kidney disease patients. In nephrotic syndrome, the most common histopathological diagnosis was AA amyloidosis. None of the patients had a major life-threatening complication.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Biopsies in the elderly are as safe as in the general population. Renal biopsy should be performed to provide an accurate diagnosis and initiate specific treatment in elderly patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Bakirkoy Dr. Sadi Konuk Education and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ozlem
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Harmankaya
authors.forename: Yildiz
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Okuturlar
authors.forename: Hakan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kocoglu
authors.forename: Hakan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kaptanogullari
authors.forename: Sibel Kocak
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Yucel
authors.forename: Hanise
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ozkan
authors.forename: Didem
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Acarer
authors.forename: Ezgi
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Erdogan
authors.forename: Murvet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yilmaz
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hursitoglu
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001706:Biopsy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007668:Kidney / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D051436:Renal Insufficiency, Chronic / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies