RESUMEN
Percutaneous renal biopsy is an essential component for diagnosis and management of glomerular diseases. In order to elucidate clinical and pathological features, 494 renal patients who had undergone renal biopsies at Gil Medical Center from January 1989 to June 1999 were studied retrospectively. The male to female ratio was 1.3 : 1 and average age was 33.2 years. There were 370(83.5%) cases of primary glomerular disease and 58(13.1%) cases of secondary glomerular disease. Among primary glomerular disease, IgA nephropathy was the most common(175 cases), followed by minimal change disease(84 cases), membranous glomerulonephritis(34 cases), and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis(33 cases). In secondary glomerular disease, lupus nephritis was the most common(21 cases), followed by 11 cases of hepatitis B associated glomerulonephritis, 9 cases of Henoch-Sch nlein purpura, and 4 cases of diabetic nephropathy. Among 99 cases of asymptomatic urinary abnormalities, IgA nephropathy was most common(69 cases) followed by 12 cases of thin basement membrane disease, 4 cases of minimal change disease, and 3 cases of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, membranous glomerulonephritis, nonspecific glomerulonephritis. Among 159 cases of nephrotic syndrome, minimal change disease was most common(60 cases) followed by 25 cases of IgA nephropathy, 23 cases of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, 21 cases of membranous glomerulonephritis, and 13 cases of lupus nephritis. Documented complication of renal biopsies included 23 cases of gross hematuria, 6 cases of perirenal hematoma, and 4 cases of infection. Death, AV fistula, aneurysm or serious compications that required surgical intervention were not reported. In conclusion, the percutaneous renal biopsy is relatively safe, and useful for diagnosis and management of glomerular diseases. The most common type of primary glomerular disease was IgA nephropathy.