Clinical spectrum and outcome of crescentic glomerulonephritis in children in developing countries

Crescentic glomerulonephritis (CsGN) is an uncommon entity in children. This prospective study was conducted to evaluate the aetiology, clinical spectrum and outcome in children with crescentic glomerulonephritis. The single-centre prospective study comprised of 22 children with biopsy proven CsGN who had been referred to our institute over the period January 2000 to December 2005. These patients were subjected to detailed clinical and biochemical examinations. The diagnosis of underlying renal disease was based on various criteria, including the clinical picture, serology and histopathology. The patients received intravenous methyl prednisolone, oral steroid treatment, and oral cyclophosphamide with or without plasmapheresis. All patients received supportive care, including control of hypertension and oedema and supportive management of renal insufficiency. During this 5-year period, CsGN accounted for 5.1% of all biopsies done in children. The mean age was 12.27 years (range 4 years to 18 years). There were eight girls and 14 boys. The mean duration of symptoms prior to referral was 2.47 months (range 5 days to 21 months). Aetiology was immune complex in 19 cases, anti-glomerular basement membrane (anti-GBM) antibody disease in two cases and pauci-immune (Wegener’s granulomatosis) in one case. The percentage of crescents ranged from 50% to 100% (mean 70.6%). Twenty-one out of 22 (95.5%) children in our series had hypertension at presentation that required treatment with antihypertensive medications. The serum creatinine level at presentation ranged from 1.5 mg/dl to 11.4 mg/dl (mean 5.5 mg/dl). Of the 22 children, two were lost to follow-up, while the mean follow-up period of the rest of the 20 children was 8.13 months (range 1 month to 43 months). At the last follow-up of the 22 children, ten had stage 5 chronic kidney disease (CKD) and three had stage 4 CKD, while seven children had a calculated glomerular filtration rate (GFR) of >60 ml/min per 1.73 m² body surface area. Persistent proteinuria was seen on follow-up in the majority [13/20 (65%)] of patients. The outcome of CsGN in children continues to be poor, in our experience, due to delayed referral and delayed diagnosis. This was correlated histologically by the presence of fibrocellular crescents in the majority of our patient. Thus CsGN should be treated as a renal emergency. A greater awareness of this disease needs to be created amongst the referring paediatricians in developing countries to facilitate early diagnosis and prompt treatment.