Evidence Hub

Patterns of renal disease in Cape Town South Africa: a 10-year review of a single-centre renal biopsy database

Okpechi I, Swanepoel C, Duffield M, Mahala B, Wearne N, Alagbe S, Barday Z, Arendse C et al.

Nephrology, dialysis, transplantation : official publication of the European Dialysis and Transplant Association - European Renal Association, 2011

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The patterns of glomerular diseases have been widely reported from different regional and national biopsy registries worldwide. However, there are scant studies on the epidemiology of biopsy-proven renal disease, particularly glomerular diseases in sub-Saharan Africa.

METHODS: We retrospectively analysed the reports of 1284 native renal biopsies, reviewed by the same pathologist and performed at the Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2009.

RESULTS: The mean age of all the patients biopsied was 36.8 ± 14.0 years with 61.8% of the patients being under 40 years of age. There was a preponderance of females (54.8%). There were more coloured patients (53.7%) than blacks (42.2%) or whites (3.9%). The frequencies of clinical indications for a renal biopsy were nephrotic range proteinuria (52.5%), acute renal failure (21.3%), asymptomatic urinary abnormalities (13.6%), chronic renal failure (6.4%), acute nephritic syndrome (5.8%) and haematuria (0.3%). The frequencies of the primary glomerulonephritis (GN) include mesangiocapillary GN (20.4%), mesangial proliferative GN (19.2%), membranous GN (18.5%), crescentic and necrotizing GN (11.4%), focal and segmental glomerulosclerosis (10.5%), post-infectious GN (8.2%), minimal change disease (6.0%) and IgA nephropathy (5.8%). Lupus nephritis was the most frequent secondary glomerular disease (39.0%) and was also the most frequent cause of the nephrotic range proteinuria (17.2%).…

How strong is the evidence?

Evidence Hub reads this as a clinical trial, done in people. Its evidence level is 3 of 5 (Moderate · trial / cohort / secondary analysis). Trials without a large randomized design, cohorts and secondary analyses give moderate evidence.

How the five levels of evidence work. The level is assigned automatically from the abstract and can be wrong, so check the paper.

Read the paper

Related studies

Go deeper in Evidence Hub

Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.

Open this study Sign up free