Severe Complications of Acute Glomerulonephritis in Children

Acute Glomerulonephritis is very common in children. The conventional treatments only focus on controlling blood pressure, eradicating infection etc. However, as its underlying cause is not eliminated, Acute Glomerulonephritis will cause a series of severe complications in children.

Hear failure

Heart failure is commonly seen in children with Acute Glomerulonephritis. They often present pulmonary congestion, liver enlargement, left heart failure or right heart failure etc. Also the children can be tested out to have noticeable enlargement of heart. These complications are related to the retention of fluid and sodium due to decreasing in glomerular filtration rate and endocrine abnormality. It usually occurs 1~2 weeks after the onset of Acute Glomerulonephritis.

Cerebropathy

The incidence of cerebropathy in children is 5~10%. The children with Acute Glomerulonephritis usually present headache, vomiting, somnolence. In severe case, they may have coma and convulsions. This may be associated with severe high blood pressure, cerebral edema or cerebrovascular spasm.

Acute Renal Failure

During the acute period of Acute Glomerulonephritis, the mesangial cells and endothelial cells have massive proliferation and even cresent formation, which can cause oliguria and even anuria and Acute Renal Failure.


Although most of the children can recover after proper treatment, some children may progress into Chronic Glomerulonephritis and finally End Stage Renal Failure. Therefore, the parents should not delay the effective treatment for their children.