Renal Biopsy Research in the Former Soviet Union: Prevention of a Negligent Custom

Insufficient international coordination of medical research and partial isolation from the international scientific community can result in repetition of research already performed in other countries. Renal biopsy was broadly used for research in the former Soviet Union. It was performed, sometimes without sufficient clinical indications, in patients with amyloidosis, renovascular hypertension (from both kidneys: on the side of the renal artery stenosis and the contralateral one), chronic alcoholism, and acute and chronic pyelonephritis (intraoperative wedge and core biopsies). In chronic alcoholism, biopsies were taken from kidneys, pancreas, salivary glands, stomach, lung, skin, and liver, sometimes repeatedly. The classification of glomerulonephritis was different from those used internationally, for example, it did not include IgA nephropathy as a separate entity. Several examples of studies based on renal biopsies are discussed in this paper. A conclusion is however optimistic: the upturn in economy enables today to modernize equipment and introduce new methods, while broadening international cooperation facilitates the flow of foreign experience into the country. The purpose of this paper was to prevent inadequate use of renal biopsy in future.