This study reports a review of biopsy-confirmed renal pathology from Soweto
Gauteng.
A retrospective analysis was conducted of 1848 adult native renal biopsy reports
from Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital from 1 January 1982 to
31 December 2011.
The mean age of all patients biopsied was 33.5 ± 12.6 years and the majority of
patients (96.4%) were black. The most frequent histological findings were
secondary glomerular diseases (SGNs) (49.3%) and primary glomerular diseases
(PGNs) (39.7%). SGNs increased, while PGNs decreased over time (p<0.001).
The main contributors to SGN were lupus nephritis (31.0%) and HIV associated
nephropathy (HIVAN) (13.3%) while for PGN it was focal segmental
glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) (29.6%). HIV positive biopsies constituted 19.7% of all
biopsies with a dominant diagnosis of HIVAN (32.7%).
Changing patterns of renal disease are evident in the data. The increased SGNs
likely reflect the influence of renal pathology secondary to HIV and lupus nephritis.
