A Critical Evaluation of Renal Biopsy in Children

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Abstract
Percutaneous renal biopsy has been widely used as a diagnostic procedure. Over 2,000 instances of its use in clinical investigation have been reported, most of these in adults.1-5 The greatest number in children have been reported by Vernier, Good, Worthen, Brunson, and Farquhar,6-17 at the University of Minnesota. Although renal biopsy has offered advantages in research, its practical usefulness is not well established. In order to evaluate the practical value of renal biopsy, we have reviewed our experience gained from light and electron microscopy of renal biopsies performed on 50 children. In this report we have correlated the clinical diagnosis with the pathologic diagnosis and present our assessment of the clinical value of the procedure. Materials and Method As a precaution, the first 15 biopsies were performed in the operating room. After being convinced of the safety of the procedure, we used the treatment room of the pediatric