Glomerulonephritis (GN) in Children

What are the signs and symptoms of glomerulonephritis?

Acute glomerulonephritis usually presents with obvious blood (seen by the naked eye) in the urine. You may notice that your child's urine is a rusty brown color, like dark tea or cola. Your child may not feel sick, but if you know that your child had a sore throat or some other infection a couple of weeks before this urine color change, your child may have acute glomerulonephritis.

However, if your child has blood in the urine that comes and goes, especially at times when he or she has an ongoing cold or some type of infection, they may not have acute glomerulonephritis, but IgA nephropathy instead.

What tests are used to diagnose glomerulonephritis?

Blood and urine tests are commonly used to diagnose glomerulonephritis or IgA nephropathy. The most important blood test is the one that checks for normal kidney function. It is called creatinine and helps the doctor determine if the disease is mild or severe. A test called C3 complement is also obtained to help separate acute glomerulonephritis from IgA nephropathy.

How is glomerulonephritis treated?

In the majority of cases (85%), no treatment is needed for the glomerulonephritis itself. Sometimes there is related high blood pressure, and that does require treatment until it improves. Often your doctor will begin treating high blood pressure in this condition with the advice of the pediatric nephrologist. Your doctor may refer you to a pediatric nephrologist, especially if the disease appears to be more severe than usual.

In severe cases putting kidney function at risk, the nephrologist has the experience to suggest treatments that have been shown to help. A biopsy is not generally needed in diagnosis and treating the first signs of acute glomerulonephritis or IgA nephropathy, but your child's nephrologist can help you decide if a kidney biopsy might be necessary. In a biopsy, a very tiny piece of the kidney is examined under a microscope to determine an exact diagnosis and identify the degree of injury to the glomeruli to see if treatment is required.