Association Between Clinical and Biochemical Findings of Pediatric Lupus Nephritis and Different Histological Classes

<i>Introduction:</i> Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune inflammatory multisystem disorder which is higher in the pediatric patients than the adult counterpart. The proposed International Society of Nephrology/Renal Pathology Society (ISN/RPS) classification system 2018 stratifies the histomorphological findings of the renal biopsy specimens into different classes that correlates with the clinical and biochemical renal outcome. <i>Methods:</i> This was a cross-sectional observational study conducted at the Department of Pathology, BSMMU. The study included the clinically diagnosed cases of pediatric lupus nephritis, from March 2021 to January 2023. Patients were enrolled by consecutive sampling after fulfilling the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Light microscopy findings of the formalin fixed paraffin-embedded renal biopsy specimens were evaluated and recorded according to the proposed ISN/RPS classification system of LN, 2018. The data were recorded. Ethical measures were maintained throughout the study. The statistical analysis was carried out using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 22 for Windows (SPSS Inc., Chicago, Illinois, USA). Before starting this study, the research protocol was being approved by the IRB (Institutional Review Board) of BSMMU, Dhaka. <i>Results:</i> Among 80 patients of LN, majority (67.5%) of the patients belonged to age group 13 to 18 years. The mean age was 13.96 ± 3.09 years ranged from 6 to 18 years. 83.75% of patients were female and 16.25% were male. Class II LN was the most common histological class (32.5%), followed by class IV (27.5%). Majority (46.3%) of the LN patients presented with isolated proteinuria. No clinical presentation was associated with histomorphological classes of LN. UTP and serum creatine were found not significantly associated with histological class of pediatric lupus nephritis. <i>Conclusion:</i> In this study, Class II LN was found to be the most common class of lupus nephritis according to the modified ISN/RPS 2018 classification system.