Course of a nephrotic syndrome
The progression always depends on the individual patient. A good response to the therapy can bring about an improvement or healing. However, if the patient does not respond to the therapy, the destruction of the kidney continues.
The symptoms worsen or even lead to kidney failure, which is noticeable by the fact that no urine is excreted at all. In addition, renal vein thrombosis can occur as a complication in the course of the nephrotic syndrome. This is caused by the loss of proteins through the kidney, which prevent blood cells from attaching to each other.
Without these proteins, the blood cells remain attached to each other and to the walls of the blood vessels. The blockage of the vessels is called thrombosis. This leads to a blood accumulation back into the kidney, which can burst and cause further damage.
Diagnosis
The diagnosis of nephrotic syndrome is made by examination of blood and urine. In nephrotic syndrome, increased excretion of protein increases the amount of protein in urine (at least 3.5g/day) and decreases the amount of protein in blood. The urine is collected for one day and the total amount of proteins contained in it is determined. In the blood, the amount of proteins and the composition of the individual proteins is determined by electrophoresis. In addition, it is possible to diagnose the underlying disease of the kidney with ultrasound or by taking a sample from the kidney.
Electrophoresis
In electrophoresis, a mixture of substances is separated in an electric field. When an electric current is applied, the substances move at different speeds depending on their charge, i.e. at different distances in a given time. In this way, it is also possible to separate a protein mixture from the blood and thus identify how much of which protein is present in the blood.
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