Mesangial hypercellularity in children: presenting features and outcomes

Mesangial hypercellularity (MH), in the absence of sclerosis or immune deposition, was a common finding on renal biopsy in our center. We studied 66 children with predominant MH. Among all patients older than 2.7 years, blood pressure (BP) percentile and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) remained stable. Serum albumin (Alb) trended higher (3.0 ± 0.2 start vs. 3.4 ± 0.2 end g/dl, p = 0.06) and urine protein/creatinine lower (4.2 ± 0.9 start vs. 2.3 ± 0.9 end mg/mg, p = 0.18) at the end of the study period. The proportion with stage 1 CKD remained constant: 94% start vs. 92% end. At end, Alb was lower in patients referred for nephrotic syndrome (NS): 4.4 ± 0.3 hematuria vs. 4.2 ± 0.2 proteinuria vs. 2.8 ± 0.3 NS g/dl, p