Renal biopsy and clinical data of 208 soldiers in active service with nephropathy in Northeast China

Objective To provide the evidence for prevention and treatment of nephropathy by analyzing the pathological and clinical features of active service soldiers in Northeast China. Methods Clinical data about 208 active service soldiers who underwent renal biopsy in our hospital from June 2003 to December 2011 were retrospectively analyzed. Results Of the 208 soldiers, 184 (88.5%) including 175 (91.2%) males and 9 (64.3%) females were diagnosed with primary glomerular disease, 160 soldiers (76.9%) were diagnosed with mesenteric proliferative nephritis including 93 (44.7%) with IgA nephropathy, 46 (22.1%) with no symptoms were found to have abnormal urine test including 32 (69.6%) with IgA nephropathy. No signifcant difference was found in pathologic types between soldier from Northeast China and those from other areas (P> 0.05). However, the incidence of endocapillary proliferative glomerulonephritis was higher while that of mesenteric proliferative nephritis was lower in soldiers from Northeast China than in those from other areas (P< 0.05). No signifcant difference was observed in the incidence of IgM nephropathy and mesenteric proliferative nephritis although it was higher in soldiers than in offcers (P> 0.05). Conclusion Primary glomerular disease is dominant in active service soldiers in Northeast China. The incidence of IgA nephropathy is the highest followed by asymptomatic nephropathy with abnormal urine test. The pathologic types are different in different gender offcers and soldiers from different places, thus different prevention and treatment measures should be taken for them.