Pattern of venous thromboembolism in childhood idiopathic nephrotic syndrome

Introduction Nephrotic syndrome (NS) is one of the most common childhood kidney diseases. Thromboembolic (TE) events are among the most serious complications of NS in children, with a reported prevalence of 1.8–5%. Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is the predominant type. Most cases of TE are clinically symptomatic, but some may be subclinical, thus, their true incidence may be underestimated. Studies on TE in childhood onset NS are few and varied, this prompted us to conduct the present study.Objective To study the pattern of thromboembolism in childhood INS.Patients and Methods This descriptive retrospective study included 225 pediatric patients with idiopathic NS (11 with TE events and 214 with no TE events) regularly following up in Alexandria University Children’s Hospital, Egypt from 2013 to 2023. Diagnosis of thromboembolism was based on clinical diagnosis and appropriate diagnostic imaging.Results The frequency of TE among our cohort was 4.9%.The median age of onset of the first TE event was 5.5 years. Most of the TE events (63.6%) occurred during the 1st 6 months of NS diagnosis. The total number of TE events was 15 events, and the most common site was cerebral sino-venous thrombosis (CSVT). The triglyceride levels were significantly higher in the TE event group. The median urinary protein/creatinine ratio was slightly higher in the TE event group. In the TE event group, 4 patients (36.4%) were steroid-resistant and only one of the 11 patients died.Conclusion In conclusion, TE events are not uncommon among INS children and most of the events occurred early during the disease. There was no significant relationship between the degree of proteinuria, serum albumin level, and the occurrence of TE events, while the level of triglycerides was significantly higher in patients who developed TE events.