Abstract/Text: All the survivors of a series of 88 patients with Henoch-Schönlein nephritis were examined after a follow-up of six and a half to 21 years (mean 9-9). Sixty-one patients had no demonstrable abnormality; six had minor urinary abnormalities; five had hypertension without urinary abnormally or renal dysfunction; four had heavy proteinuria; eight were in chronic renal failure, three of whom were on regular dialysis; and four patients had died within 25 months of onset. Neither corticosteroids nor immunosuppressive drugs alone or in combination appeared to influence the outcome. A clinical presentation with a combination of acute nephritis and a nephrotic syndrome and a high proportion of crescents in renal biopsy specimens was associated with a poor outcome. Neither the clinical presentation nor the renal morphology were, however, precise determinants of outcome. Outcome was not related to age, associated streptococcal infection, or recurrences of the rash. The clinical state two years after presentation was compared with the state six and a half years or more after presentation in 76 patients. The clinical state had changed in 32 patients, in 17 of whom it had deteriorated. It was not possible to identify with any certainty the patients who would deteriorate (or improve). Patients who have had Henoch-Schönlein nephritis should be followed up for at least five years.

Abstract/Text: A study of long-term outcome of 78 subjects who had had Henoch-Schönlein nephritis during childhood (at a mean of 23.4 years after onset) shows that severity of clinical presentation and initial findings on renal biopsy correlate well with outcome but have poor predictive value in individuals. 44% of patients who had nephritic, nephrotic, or nephritic/nephrotic syndromes at onset have hypertension or impaired renal function, whereas 82% of those who presented with haematuria (with or without proteinuria) are normal. 17 patients deteriorated clinically from an initial assessment in 1971; 7 of these had apparently completely recovered in 1976. 16 of 44 full-term pregnancies were complicated by proteinuria and/or hypertension, even in the absence of active renal disease. These findings indicate that childhood Henoch-Schönlein nephritis requires long-term follow-up, especially during pregnancy.

Abstract/Text: All the survivors of a series of 88 patients with Henoch-Schönlein nephritis were examined after a follow-up of six and a half to 21 years (mean 9-9). Sixty-one patients had no demonstrable abnormality; six had minor urinary abnormalities; five had hypertension without urinary abnormally or renal dysfunction; four had heavy proteinuria; eight were in chronic renal failure, three of whom were on regular dialysis; and four patients had died within 25 months of onset. Neither corticosteroids nor immunosuppressive drugs alone or in combination appeared to influence the outcome. A clinical presentation with a combination of acute nephritis and a nephrotic syndrome and a high proportion of crescents in renal biopsy specimens was associated with a poor outcome. Neither the clinical presentation nor the renal morphology were, however, precise determinants of outcome. Outcome was not related to age, associated streptococcal infection, or recurrences of the rash. The clinical state two years after presentation was compared with the state six and a half years or more after presentation in 76 patients. The clinical state had changed in 32 patients, in 17 of whom it had deteriorated. It was not possible to identify with any certainty the patients who would deteriorate (or improve). Patients who have had Henoch-Schönlein nephritis should be followed up for at least five years.