Acute glomerulonephritis in children: a review of 153 cases

Abstract

Clinical experience with 153 cases of acute glomerulonephritis is recorded. Streptococcal impetigo was the major causative factor in this series. The acute fatality rate was 1.3% (two patients). Of the 151 survivors, 103 patients have been followed up for periods of six months to 11 years. None of these patients have shown any evidence of progression to chronic glomerulonephritis. In this series, as in others previously reported, acute glomerulonephritis in children appears to be self-limited in contrast to the illness in adults, where 25% to 40% of the cases progress to chronic glomerulonephritis. Unusual findings in this survey were ten patients with minimal or no urine abnormalities. Ten patients had normal serum complement values and three patients had well documented second attacks of poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis.