Spectrum of renal disease in Saudi Arabia

A series of 380 kidney biopsies performed at several institutions in Saudi Arabia was reviewed and categorized as follows: primary glomerular disease, 275; renal involvement in systemic disease, 77; and miscellaneous, 28. The 275 biopsy specimens from patients with primary glomerular disease were further classified and revealed minimal-change disease in 16 (5.8%), mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis in 80 (29.09%), focal segmental glomerulosclerosis in 96 (34.9%), mesangiocapillary glomerulonephritis in 29 (10.5%), membranous glomerulonephritis in 18 (6.5%), IgA nephropathy in 16 (5.8%), rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis in 12 (4.4%), and postinfectious glomerulonephritis in 8 (2.9%). Comparison of our findings with those from previously published studies indicated that the frequency of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis in our series is higher than that for most series reported for other countries, while the incidence of IgA nephropathy is relatively low. Another significant difference was a complete absence of mesangiocapillary glomerulonephritis type II (dense-deposit disease). Additional studies are needed to further confirm these findings and identify the factors responsible for the differences.