The Italian experience of the national registry of renal biopsies.

Background: Although several registries collecting data of patients with kidney diseases exist, there are only a few registries which specifically collect data relating to renal biopsy; one such registry is the Italian Registry of Renal Biopsies (IRRB). The aim of this study was to report on the relative frequency of nephropathies according to gender, age at time of biopsy, clinical presentation and renal function, based on the histologic diagnosis during the years 1996 to 2000.

Methods: We evaluated data relating to 14607 renal biopsies, provided by 128 renal units in Italy.