Fifteen out of 103 renal biopsies in children with primary glomerular diseases revealed membranous nephropathy (14.5%). 13 cases presented clinically as nephrotic syndrome and 2 cases as nephritis syndrome. HBV markers were tested in the sera of all cases, 14 (93.3%) showed positive results (HBsAg 13/15+, AntiHBs 1/15+, Anti HBc 8/14+, HBeAg 3/8+, one case only positive for AntiHBe). HBsAg was found in 7 out of 11 cases (HBeAg also detected in 2 of them) along the glomerular capillary wall on immunofluorescence examination. Only 12 of the remaining 88 patients were serum HBsAg positive (13.6%). These findings strongly suggest that membranous nep hropathy in children is closely related to HBV infection in our country.
