Abstract
Background: Development of steroid dependency is one of the difficult problems in the management of children with idiopathic nephrotic syndrome, leading to increased morbidity, complications and cost of treatment. Thus, predicting early in the disease course will be useful in counseling parents and may improve treatment strategy. Objectives: To determine the clinical characteristics that can predict the development of steroid dependency early in the initial episodes of steroid sensitive nephrotic syndrome (SSNS). Patients and Methods: The study included 52 children with SSNS. Their ages ranged from 3 to 16 years. Patients were divided into two groups. Group A consisted of 24 patients with steroid dependency or frequent relapses nephrotic syndrome and group B consisted of 28 patients with complete remission or recurrent nephrotic syndrome. Data obtained retrospectively from patients’ files. Results: Children who require a cumulative steroid dose equal or more than 140 mg/kg to maintain remission during the first 6 months of the disease are at high risk to require steroid sparing agents (SSA) for disease control, and who did not achieve remission by day 20 of the initial prednisone course became steroid dependent with 96% specificity but with low sensitivity (50%). All steroid dependent children in this study showed relapses associated significantly with upper respiratory tract infections. Conclusions: Cumulative steroid dose in the first 6 months of treatment and the need of more than 20 days to achieve initial remission can predict steroid dependency in children with nephrotic syndrome.
Highlights
Development of steroid dependency is one of the difficult problems in the management of children with idiopathic nephrotic syndrome, leading to increased morbidity, complications and cost of treatment
Patients were divided into two groups: group A consisted of 24 patients who were steroid dependents or frequent relapses; Group B consisted of 28 patients with complete remission or recurrent nephrotic syndrome but not frequent relapsing
There was no significant difference between the two groups as regard age at disease onset or at the time of the study
Summary
Development of steroid dependency is one of the difficult problems in the management of children with idiopathic nephrotic syndrome, leading to increased morbidity, complications and cost of treatment. Objectives: To determine the clinical characteristics that can predict the development of steroid dependency early in the initial episodes of steroid sensitive nephrotic syndrome (SSNS). Conclusions: Cumulative steroid dose in the first 6 months of treatment and the need of more than 20 days to achieve initial remission can predict steroid dependency in children with nephrotic syndrome. The prognosis of children with idiopathic nephrotic syndrome depends on the underlying histopathology and can be predicted by the response to steroid treatment. The associations of steroid dependency with young age at onset, male gender, the duration from initial steroid therapy to remission, low serum protein levels and hematuria have been investigated with conflicting results in different population groups [3,4,5,6,7].
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