©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Nephrol. May 6, 2015; 4(2): 263-270
Published online May 6, 2015. doi: 10.5527/wjn.v4.i2.263
Published online May 6, 2015. doi: 10.5527/wjn.v4.i2.263
Primary glomerular diseases in the elderly
Abdullah Sumnu, Okmeydani Training and Research Hospital, 34390 Istanbul, Turkey
Meltem Gursu, Savas Ozturk, Nephrology Clinic, Haseki Training and Research Hospital, 34390 Istanbul, Turkey
Savas Ozturk, Nefroloji Klinigi, Haseki Egitim ve Arastirma Hastanesi, 34390 Istanbul, Turkey
Author contributions: Sumnu A, Gursu M and Ozturk S contributed equally to this work; Ozturk S planned the paper; Sumnu A collected literature related with the article; Sumnu A, Gursu M and Ozturk S wrote the paper.
Conflict-of-interest: None of the authors has conflict of interest.
Correspondence to: Savas Ozturk, MD, Associate Professor, Nefroloji Klinigi, Haseki Egitim ve Arastirma Hastanesi, Aksaray, 34390 Istanbul, Turkey. savasozturkdr@yahoo.com
Telephone: +90-212-3430997 Fax: +90-212-3431000
Received: November 28, 2014
Peer-review started: November 29, 2014
First decision: December 12, 2014
Revised: December 22, 2014
Accepted: February 4, 2015
Article in press: February 9, 2015
Published online: May 6, 2015
Processing time: 160 Days and 22.7 Hours
Peer-review started: November 29, 2014
First decision: December 12, 2014
Revised: December 22, 2014
Accepted: February 4, 2015
Article in press: February 9, 2015
Published online: May 6, 2015
Processing time: 160 Days and 22.7 Hours
Core Tip
Core tip: Primary glomerular diseases in the elderly population are a frustrating topic due to difficulties in both diagnosis and treatment. The most frequent type of primary glomerular disease and the most frequent cause of nephrotic syndrome is membranous nephropathy. The frequency of pauci-immune glomerulonephritides increases considerably in the very elderly population. Renal biopsy is the inevitable diagnostic method in the elderly as in all other age groups. The decision about adding immune suppressive therapies to conservative methods should be made considering many factors like co-morbidities, drug side effects, patient preference, life expectancy and renal functions at the time of diagnosis.