Glomerulonephritis disease pattern at Saudi tertiary care center

OBJECTIVE To assess changes in the pattern of glomerular diseases to help guide optimal allocation of resources, to focus future reasearch, and improve outcomes. Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted on kidney biopsies taken between 2007 and 2016 at a single tertiary care center in Saudi Arabia (King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh) to evaluate the prevalence and pattern of glomerulonephritis (GN). Results: The most common primary GN in 102 biopsies from adult patients with a mean age of 28.9 ± 13.6 years and 40.2% female, was focal and segmental glomerulosclerosis (35.3%). Among 64 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus associated nephritis, of whom most (82.8%) were female, lupus nephritis (LN) 4 (46.9%), and (LN) 3 (32.8%) were the most common lupus nephritis classes. Conclusion: Establishing prospective GN registries from which robust diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes data can be acquired is warranted; however, registry development and maintenance are often precluded by resource limitations. Accordingly, retrospective analysis of administrative data will continue to provide important complementary information on GN epidemiology.