The pathological spectrum of pediatric kidney disease: 18-Year experience from a single tertiary care center in northern Taiwan

Background: Glomerular disease is one of the leading causes of chronic kidney disease in children worldwide. Recent studies outlined the changing spectrum of glomerular disease in certain countries. Therefore, our study aimed to evaluate the histopathological patterns and changes in pediatric kidney disease over the past 18 years in northern Taiwan. Methods: This was a retrospective chart review study of pediatric patients (≤18 years of age) undergoing percutaneous renal biopsies (PRBs) of native kidneys between January 2002 and July 2020 from a Pediatric Care Center at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan. Results: This study analyzed a total of 339 pediatric native PRBs. The mean age of the subjects was 13.7 ± 7.0 years (184 girls and 155 boys). The most common indications of PRBs included acute nephritic syndrome (55.7%), idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (22.7%), persistent asymptomatic hematuria (13.9%), and unexplained renal failure (7.7%). Our study revealed that proliferative lupus nephritis (LN), minimal change disease (MCD)-related nephrotic syndrome, and IgA nephropathy (IgAN) were the most frequent biopsy-proven pediatric glomerular diseases. In addition, we showed that severe acute post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis (APSGN) was infrequent and has not even been diagnosed since 2010. Conclusion: Our result revealed that the spectrum of biopsy-proven pediatric kidney disease has not changed significantly over the past two decades. Furthermore, proliferative LN, MCD, and primary IgAN continue to be the most common histopathological diagnoses among Taiwanese children.