Study of glomerulonephritis evolution in Castilla-La Mancha (GLOMANCHA) between 1994 and 2008

Background: Renal biopsy registries allow histopathological data to be collected to improve knowledge of different pathologies and their natural history. Aim: To analyse the data of the Castilla La Mancha Glomerulonephritis Registry (GLOMANCHA) and the evolution of the different biopsy-proven pathologies between 1994 and 2008. Methods: The 6 most common biopsy-proven pathologies were collected during the 14 years of the study (941 biopsies) in the 5 participant centres of the autonomous community. In 2008, we assessed patient renal survival and mortality and we evaluated associated factors to each situation for each pathology. Results: Of the 941 biopsies, 59% belonged to men, with a mean age of 48 ± 18 years. At the time of the biopsy, the median glomerular filtration rate was 50.3 (25.5–76.3) ml/min/1.73 m2 and median proteinuria was 3.4 (1.5–6.4) grams per day. The most common pathology were lupus nephropathy, followed by focal segmental glomerulosclerosis and membranous nephropathy. Lupus nephropathy and minimal change disease achieved the best renal prognosis during follow-up (mean 7.3 ± 4.8 years). Rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis type 3 and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis had the worst renal prognosis. In addition, rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis type 3 presented the worst vital prognosis. Conclusions: In GLOMANCHA, we demonstrate the poor prognosis of rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis type 3, in contrast to minimal change disease or lupus nephropathy. Renal function is an independent predictor of renal survival and mortality in this study.