Clinicopathologic correlations of renal biopsy findings from northeast China: A 10-year retrospective study

Renal biopsy is the cornerstone of diagnostic approaches in nephrology, as they provide invaluable diagnostic information. In this study, we analyzed and reported renal biopsy results from northeast China from the past 10 years to describe the epidemiological trend. We analyzed clinical features, indications, and histological diagnoses of renal biopsies collected between January 1, 2007, and December 31, 2016. There were 2725 identified cases (with a mean age of 41.24 ± 15.18 years, 55% male) during the study period. The main clinical indication was nephrotic syndrome (59.9%). Membranous nephropathy (29.1%) was the most common pathological finding in the entire study population, followed by IgA nephropathy (23.4%), minimal change disease (12.7%), and mesangio-proliferative glomerulonephritis (7.4%). We divided the study period into 2 subperiods: 2007 to 2011 (period 1) and 2012 to 2016 (period 2). Membranous nephropathy and minimal change disease were more frequent in period 2 than in period 1. Conversely, IgAN and non-IgA mesangio-proliferative glomerulonephritis were less frequent in period 2 than in period 1. Cases of Henöch–Schönlein purpura nephritis and lupus nephritis were observed less over time, while cases of nephroangiosclerosis increased significantly over time. Finally, there was a significant increase in the number of tubulointerstitial diseases observed over time, while there was a significant decrease in glomerulosclerosis and unclassified findings over time. Membranous nephropathy was the most common pathological finding from renal biopsy and the prevalence has increased significantly in recent years in northeast China.