Histopathologic Features Aid in Predicting Risk for Progression of IgA Nephropathy

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: IgA nephropathy (IgAN) is the most common primary glomerular disease worldwide. Accurately identifying patients who are at risk for progressive disease is challenging. The extent to which histopathologic features improves prognostication is uncertain. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, 95% confidence interval CI 1.2 to 6.0), glomerular sclerosis (HR 2.6; 95% CI 1.2 to 4.5), and crescents (HR 2.4; 95% CI 1.2 to 5.1) remained independent predictors of the primary outcome and significantly improved model fit compared with clinical characteristics alone. CONCLUSIONS: Baseline histopathologic parameters are independent predictors of adverse outcomes in IgAN even after taking into consideration clinical characteristics. Relatively small degrees of interstitial fibrosis confer an increased risk for progressive IgAN.