Interpretation of Kidney Biopsy in Indian Patients Older than 60 Years: A Tertiary Care Experience

The adult population above the age of 60 years has significantly increased in India, with a life expectancy of 68.4 years in 2016. Data regarding the renal histopathology in these patients are scarce though the number of native kidney biopsies done in this subset of population is increasing. The present study is a retrospective analysis of 231 biopsies from a total of 700 biopsies, from patients above 60 years of age (M = 65.8%; F = 34.2%) with a mean age of 64 ± 6.03 years. The indications for kidney biopsy included nephrotic syndrome (NS) (30.4%), nephritic syndrome (19.1%), rapidly progressive renal failure (11.7%), acute kidney injury (AKI) (15.7%), and acute worsening of preexisting chronic kidney disease (CKD) (23%). The median percentage of glomerulosclerosis was 22% (5%–45%), and interstitial fibrosis and tubular atrophy was 30% (10%–50%). The most common cause for nephrotic syndrome was membranous nephropathy (31.4%) and for nephritic syndrome was benign arterionephrosclerosis (22.7%). Postinfectious glomerulonephritis (29.6%) was the leading cause for rapidly progressive renal failure. Acute injury on CKD was notable in patients with diabetic nephropathy (30.2%). The predominant causes for AKI were acute tubulointerstitial nephritis (33.3%), acute tubular necrosis (22.2%), and acute pyelonephritis (19.4%). The biopsy proven histopathological features enabled us in tailoring the therapy. None of the patients developed life-threatening complications following ultrasonography-guided biopsy.