الفهرس | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract This study was carried out on 40 children with steroid dependant minimal change nephrotic syndrome. They were selected from patients who attended nephrology outpatient clinic or admitted to nephrolohy department, Mansoura Urology and Nephrology Center in the period from January 1999. Of them, 31 were males and 9 were females. Their age ranged from 3 to 15 years. After a thorough history and clinical examination, all patients were subjected to a battery of investigations including urinalysis, 24-hour urinary protein, serum creatinine, liver function tests, total serum cholesterol and complete blood count. Renal biopsy was performed for those patients who didn’t do it before so that at start of the study all patients underwent renal biopsy. All specimens were examined by light and immunofluorescent microscopy. Electron microscopic examination was available in 8 patients only. Patients were prospectively and randomly divided into two equal groups. One group was allocated to receive levamisole (levamisole group) and another to receive IV monthly cyclosphamide pulses ( control group). Treatment duration was 6 months. Patients were followed up during the 6-month treatment duration and for further 3.5 years after stopping treatment. |