Thin basement membrane disease
Thin basement membrane disease includes familial benign hematuria, familial hematuric nephritis, benign hereditary nephritis
- Most common cause of persistent hematuria in both children and adults; affects about 1% of population
- Renal impairment is usually not associated with disease, which is a lifelong and nonprogressive disorder; family history is often positive for disease
- Presents similarly with glomerular origin hematuria and minimal proteinuria, often after exercise or during infection; hematuria is usually microscopic but may be macroscopic in up to about 20% of patients
- Differentiate by clinical presentation and course; hypertension, edema, and declining renal function do not develop
- May be diagnosed by characteristic biopsy and electron microscopy findings (uniformly thinned glomerular basement membranes) if confirmatory diagnosis is needed
- In particular, may need to be distinguished from Alport syndrome, as both conditions share similar features early in course
