Glomerulonephritis

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Overview, Causes, & Risk Factors

Glomerulonephritis may be a temporary and reversible condition, or it may be progressive. Progressive glomerulonephritis may result in destruction of the kidney glomeruli and chronic renal failure and end stage renal disease. The disease may be caused by specific problems with the body's immune system, but the precise cause of most cases is unknown.

Damage to the glomeruli with subsequent impaired filtering causes blood and protein to be lost in the urine. Because symptoms develop gradually, the disorder may be discovered when there is an abnormal urinalysis during routine physical or examination for unrelated disorders. Glomerulonephritis can cause hypertension and may only be discovered as a cause of hypertension that is difficult to control.

It may develop after survival of the acute phase of rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis. In about one-fourth of people with chronic glomerulonephritis, there is no prior history of kidney disease, and the disorder first appears as chronic renal failure.

Specific disorders that are associated with glomerulonephritis include:

• Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSG)
• Goodpasture's syndrome
• IgA nephropathy
• IgM mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis
• Lupus nephritis
• Membranoproliferative GN I
• Membranoproliferative GN II
• Post-streptococcal GN
• Rapidly progressive (crescentic) glomerulonephritis
• Rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis (RPGN)