"Relapse period" as an indication of the cure for minimalchange nephrotic syndrome in adults

• Published in: The Japanese Journal of Nephrology Vol. 18; no. 1; pp. 1 - 5
• Main Authors: Kida, Hiroshi, Dohi, Kazuhiro, Nakamoto, Yasushi, Nishimura, Kunio, Asano, Yoshihiro, Fujioka, Masahiko, Iida, Hiroyuki, Mizumura, Yasuji, Hattori, Nobu, Minami, Masayasu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Japanese
• Published: Japanese Society of Nephrology 1976
• ISSN: 0385-2385; 1884-0728
• DOI: 10.14842/jpnjnephrol1959.18.1

No reliable indication of the cure for minimal-change nephrotic syndrome has been reported so far. The purpose of the present study is to make out a criterion of the cure for the disease, by investigating the "remission period" which was terminated in a relapse. The "remission period" in this study was defined to be from the onset of a nephrotic episode to the following relapse. Grouping of "remission periods" could suggest the "relapse period", during which relapses occur, and the longest "remission period", therefore, should de the time of termination of the "relapse period". Nineteen of adult nephrotics with histologically proved minimal-change lesions were selected for this study. All of them had been followed up for at least 3 years since the last relapse (the mean followup period was 80 months). They had overall 42 relapses. On the relapses, the relationship between remission period t expressed as month and remaining rate R(t) in remission at month t was investigated and was applied for Weibull's distribution shown by the following equationln ln 1/ R(t) =m lnt - lnt0- (1) In this m and lnt0 were calculated to be 1.245 and 3.076 respectively by the method of least squ-ares. Equation (1) was rewritten as follows.ln ln Rlt =1.245 lnt 3.076-(2)Equation (2) was proven to fit well for the observed frequency of relapse by the goodness of fit test (X2=1.60, 0.8<p<0.9). From equation (2), the time when R(t) became 0.02 was 35, 4 months, namely the "relapse period was 35.4 months with 98% confidence limit It means that adult nephrotics with minimal-change lesions could have recovered from the disease with 98% confidence limit when their remissions continued beyond the "relapse period" (more than 35.4 months after the nephrotic episode)