Chronic Nephritis after Acute Poststreptococcal Glomerulonephritis?

To the Editor: Dr. Kurtzman's impression is that the vast majority of patients with acute poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis, both children and adults, will recover completely if they have no preexisting renal disease.¹ This conclusion was based in part on the follow-up studies of epidemic acute poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis by Perlman,² who reported no case of chronic glomerulonephritis in 61 patients 10 years after the acute attack. However, in this study, at long-term follow-up examination, 17 per cent of the patients with nephritis had urinary abnormalities, and 25 per cent of the biopsies were consistent with chronic glomerular disease. Kurtzman dismisses these findings. No extract is available for articles shorter than 400 words.