The relationship between children kidney diseases and adult ESRD--an epidemiological investigation of 700 cases.

Background: We planned an epidemic investigation of 700 cases who suffered from chronic renal failure (CRF) to search for the evidence to demonstrate the relationship between children kidney diseases and adult CRF.

Methods: Seven hundred patients from four hospitals in Chengdu, China, were investigated face-to-face to complete a questionnaire referring to the information of diagnoses, treatment, history and so on. These enumeration count data were analyzed by statistical description.

Results: In 700 patients, there were 402 male and 298 female including 21 children and 679 adults. In the disease spectrum, the unclear accounted for 36.3% of totality. Chronic glomerulonephritis made the top proportion (14.4%) in primary kidney diseases. Diabetic nephropathy (15.3%), hypertensive nephropathy (10.1%), and gouty nephropathy (6%) made the primary proportion in secondary kidney diseases. In 21 children, chronic glomerulonephritis had the highest proportion of 52.4%, followed by nephrotic syndrome (19%), Henoch-Schönlein purpura (9.5%), and urinary tract obstruction (4.8%). Thirty-eight cases developed into kidney diseases during childhood including 21 children mentioned above, in which 17 cases presented CRF in the adult stage. The primary renal diseases are chronic glomerulonephritis (60.5%), purpura nephritis (18.4%), nephrotic syndrome (10.5%), urinary tract obstruction (2.6%), and the unclear (7.9%).

Conclusion: The survey showed that there were a high proportion of patients whose causes were unknown, to which attention should be paid. Chronic glomerulonephritis remained the main cause of CRF no matter whether in children or in adults. Purpura during childhood, used to be thought as self-limited, might eventually develop into CRF in adulthood, which caught our eyes.