OBJECTIVE: To analyze the laboratory and clinical characteristics of patients diagnosed with lupus nephritis and submitted to renal biopsy at a university hospital; to correlate laboratory and clinical manifestations with the main types of lupus nephritis; to determinate factors associated with the development of chronic renal failure (CRF). METHODS: Retrospective evaluation of the demographic, clinical, laboratory and histological data of patients diagnosed with lupus nephritis and submitted to renal biopsy from January/1997 to July/2002. RESULTS:Seventy-seven patients with lupus nephritis were submitted to 95 renal biopsies. Considering only the samples with conclusive results (n=76), diffuse proliferative glomerulonephritis (DPGN) was the most prevalent histological type (68.4%), followed by the focal (14.5%) and mesangial (7.9%) types. Arterial hypertension, creatinine > 1.2 g/dL, hypoalbuminemia (albumin < 2.6 g/dL) and nephrotic syndrome were present on the first biopsy in 43.8%, 48.7%, 55.2% and 15.6% of the patients, respectively. DPGN was frequently associated with high creatinine levels (p = 0,002), hypoalbuminemia (p = 0,012), active urinary sediment (0,007), edema of the lower limbs (p = 0,01), hematuria (p = 0,003) and higher activity index (p = 0,0001). The mesangial form achieved remission more frequently (66.7%) when compared to focal (12.5%) and diffuse (12.8%) forms (p = 0,02). The average follow-up period was 29.3 ± 20.7 months (median = 24.5 months). 30% of the patients developed CRF. High creatinine levels (OR = 11; IC 95%: 2,16-55,9), thrombocytopenia (OR = 6,8; IC 95%: 1,43-32,19), hypoalbuminemia (OR= 6,42; IC 95%: 1,21-33,97) and a chronicity index = 2 (OR = 6,36; IC 95%: 1,02-39,57) were associated with CRF. CONCLUSIONS: Clinical and histological data are important when evaluating the prognosis of patients with lupus nephritis. High creatinine levels, thrombocytopenia, hypoalbuminemia and a chronicity index = 2 were found to be associated with progression to CRF.
lupus nephritis; renal biopsy; chronic renal failure; systemic lupus erythematosus
