Clinical implication of crescentic lesions in immunoglobulin A nephropathy

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

<P><B>Background</B></P><P>To date, there has been much controversy about the role of crescentic lesion as a significant prognostic factor in immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN). This study evaluated whether crescentic lesions predict adverse renal outcomes in IgAN patients.</P><P><B>Methods</B></P><P>A total of 430 patients with biopsy-proven IgAN between January 2000 and December 2009 were included. Histological variables of the Oxford classification (Oxford-MEST) and the presence of crescents were assessed. The primary endpoint was a 50% decline in estimated glomerular filtration rate.</P><P><B>Results</B></P><P>Of the 430 patients, 81 (18.8%) had a crescentic lesion. During a mean follow-up of 61 months, the primary outcome occurred in 19 (23.5%) patients with crescents compared with 40 (11.5%) patients without crescents (P = 0.01). A Kaplan–Meier plot showed that the 10-year renal survival rate was significantly lower in patients with crescents than patients without crescents (P = 0.01). However, in a multivariable Cox analysis which included clinical factors and the Oxford-MEST, crescents were not significantly associated with an increased risk of developing the primary outcome [hazard ratio: 0.71, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.36–1.41, P = 0.33]. Furthermore, adding crescents to the Oxford-MEST did not improve the discriminative ability for the prediction of renal outcomes [<I>c</I>-statistic: 0.86 (0.81–0.91) vs. 0.86 (0.80–0.91), P = 0.21].</P><P><B>Conclusion</B></P><P>Crescentic lesion was not an independent prognostic factor, suggesting that crescents have limited value in predicting renal outcomes of IgAN.</P>