These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: Podocyte foot process effacement as a diagnostic tool in focal segmental glomerulosclerosis.
    Author: Deegens JK, Dijkman HB, Borm GF, Steenbergen EJ, van den Berg JG, Weening JJ, Wetzels JF.
    Journal: Kidney Int; 2008 Dec; 74(12):1568-76. PubMed ID: 18813290.
    Abstract:
    Podocyte foot process effacement is characteristic of proteinuric renal diseases. In minimal change nephrotic syndrome (MCNS) foot processes are diffusely effaced whereas the extent of effacement varies in focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS). Here we measured foot process effacement in FSGS and compared it to that in MCNS and in normal kidneys. A clinical diagnosis was used to differentiate idiopathic FSGS from secondary FSGS. Median foot process width, determined morphometrically by electron microscopy, was 3236 nm in 17 patients with idiopathic FSGS, 1098 nm in 7 patients with secondary FSGS, and 1725 nm in 15 patients with MCNS, as compared to 562 nm in 12 control patients. Multivariate analysis showed that foot process width did not correlate with proteinuria or serum albumin levels but was significantly associated as an independent factor with the type of disease. Foot process width over 1500 nm differentiated idiopathic from secondary FSGS with high sensitivity and specificity. Our results show that quantitative analysis of foot processes may offer a potential tool to distinguish idiopathic from secondary FSGS.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]