{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,17]],"date-time":"2026-01-17T07:48:31Z","timestamp":1768636111860,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":28,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,11]],"date-time":"2025-06-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1749600000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Life"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Glomerular diseases are a major cause of chronic kidney disease worldwide, yet epidemiological data from Eastern Europe, and Romania in particular, remain scarce. This study aimed to characterize the spectrum of biopsy-proven glomerulopathies in Romania through a multicenter national registry over a 10-year period. We retrospectively analyzed 4047 native kidney biopsies performed between 2014 and 2023 across four national nephrology reference centers. Patient demographics, clinical presentation, and histopathological diagnoses were collected and categorized into primary and secondary glomerular diseases, glomerulosclerosis, tubulointerstitial nephropathies, hereditary nephropathies, and vascular nephropathies. The mean patient age was 48 years, 54.8% were male, and 51.4% presented with nephrotic-range proteinuria. The most common primary glomerulopathies were membranous nephropathy (16.7%), immunoglobulin A nephropathy (15.6%), focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (8.8%), and membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis (10%). Among secondary glomerular diseases, lupus nephritis (9.3%), diabetic nephropathy (8.5%), and vasculitis (7.7%) were most frequent. Marked inter-center variability was observed, with a notably high prevalence of membranous nephropathy in Ia\u0219i (31.1%). Over the study period, the incidence of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis increased while immunoglobulin A nephropathy declined. This study provides the first nationwide epidemiological assessment of biopsy-proven glomerular disease in Romania, revealing both similarities and distinctive differences compared to patterns reported in other European countries.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/life15060938","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,11]],"date-time":"2025-06-11T06:11:49Z","timestamp":1749622309000},"page":"938","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Biopsy-Proven Glomerulopathies in Romania: A 10-Year Nationwide Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Andreea","family":"Covic","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nephrology, \u201cGrigore T. Popa\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 700115 Ia\u0219i, Romania"},{"name":"Clinical Hospital \u201cDr. C. I. Parhon\u201d, 700503 Ia\u0219i, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1780-6284","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mihai","family":"Onofriescu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nephrology, \u201cGrigore T. Popa\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 700115 Ia\u0219i, Romania"},{"name":"Clinical Hospital \u201cDr. C. I. Parhon\u201d, 700503 Ia\u0219i, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Flaviu R.","family":"Bob","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nephrology, \u201cVictor Babe\u0219\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 300041 Timi\u0219oara, Romania"},{"name":"Center for Molecular Research in Nephrology and Vascular Disease, Faculty of Medicine, \u201cVictor Babe\u0219\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 300041 Timisoara, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Cristina","family":"C\u0103pu\u0219\u0103","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nephrology, \u201cCarol Davila\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 050474 Bucharest, Romania"},{"name":"\u201cDr. Carol Davila\u201d Clinical Hospital of Nephrology, 010731 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Irina-Draga","family":"C\u0103runtu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Clinical Hospital \u201cDr. C. I. Parhon\u201d, 700503 Ia\u0219i, Romania"},{"name":"Department of Morpho-Functional Sciences I, \u201cGrigore T. Popa\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 700115 Ia\u0219i, Romania"},{"name":"Romanian Academy of Medical Sciences, 1 I.C. Bratianu Boulevard, 030171 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1875-6848","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Otilia","family":"Ciurea","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nephrology, \u201cCarol Davila\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 050474 Bucharest, Romania"},{"name":"\u201cDr. Carol Davila\u201d Clinical Hospital of Nephrology, 010731 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9985-2486","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Adrian","family":"Covic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nephrology, \u201cGrigore T. Popa\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 700115 Ia\u0219i, Romania"},{"name":"Clinical Hospital \u201cDr. C. I. Parhon\u201d, 700503 Ia\u0219i, Romania"},{"name":"Romanian Academy of Medical Sciences, 1 I.C. Bratianu Boulevard, 030171 Bucharest, Romania"},{"name":"Academy of Romanian Scientists, 3, Ilfov Street, 050044 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6321-7253","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Simona","family":"Giusca","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Clinical Hospital \u201cDr. C. I. Parhon\u201d, 700503 Ia\u0219i, Romania"},{"name":"Department of Morpho-Functional Sciences I, \u201cGrigore T. Popa\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 700115 Ia\u0219i, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1167-9154","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ina","family":"Kacso","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nephrology, \u201cIuliu Ha\u021bieganu\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400012 Cluj-Napoca, Romania"},{"name":"Cluj County Emergency Hospital, 400006 Cluj-Napoca, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3220-6623","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Adelina","family":"Mih\u0103escu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nephrology, \u201cVictor Babe\u0219\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 300041 Timi\u0219oara, Romania"},{"name":"Center for Molecular Research in Nephrology and Vascular Disease, Faculty of Medicine, \u201cVictor Babe\u0219\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 300041 Timisoara, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-6761-8956","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andreea","family":"Niculescu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"\u201cDr. Carol Davila\u201d Clinical Hospital of Nephrology, 010731 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4796-4950","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bogdan","family":"Obri\u0219c\u0103","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"\u201cDr. Carol Davila\u201d Clinical Hospital of Nephrology, 010731 Bucharest, Romania"},{"name":"Fundeni Clinical Institute, 022328 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3434-0762","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dacian","family":"Tirinescu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nephrology, \u201cIuliu Ha\u021bieganu\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400012 Cluj-Napoca, Romania"},{"name":"Cluj County Emergency Hospital, 400006 Cluj-Napoca, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Adalbert","family":"Schiller","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nephrology, \u201cVictor Babe\u0219\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 300041 Timi\u0219oara, Romania"},{"name":"Center for Molecular Research in Nephrology and Vascular Disease, Faculty of Medicine, \u201cVictor Babe\u0219\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 300041 Timisoara, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0770-3684","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alexandra","family":"Vrabie","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"\u201cDr. Carol Davila\u201d Clinical Hospital of Nephrology, 010731 Bucharest, Romania"},{"name":"Fundeni Clinical Institute, 022328 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yuriy","family":"Maslyennikov","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nephrology, \u201cIuliu Ha\u021bieganu\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400012 Cluj-Napoca, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Gener","family":"Ismail","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"\u201cDr. Carol Davila\u201d Clinical Hospital of Nephrology, 010731 Bucharest, Romania"},{"name":"Fundeni Clinical Institute, 022328 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1048","DOI":"10.1016\/j.kint.2019.07.012","article-title":"A Single Number for Advocacy and Communication\u2014Worldwide More than 850 Million Individuals Have Kidney Diseases","volume":"96","author":"Jager","year":"2019","journal-title":"Kidney Int."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"419","DOI":"10.1093\/ndt\/gfi207","article-title":"Epidemiology of renal disease in Romania: A 10-year review of two regional renal biopsy databases","volume":"21","author":"Covic","year":"2006","journal-title":"Nephrol. 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