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Nephrotic Syndrome in Children

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Textbook of Clinical Pediatrics

Nephrotic syndrome is defined by a proteinuria higher than 50 mg/kgBW/day and hypoalbuminemia <30 g/l. A nephrotic syndrome is always secondary to a glomerular disease.

Different mechanisms have been described in the nephrotic syndrome: circulating nonimmune factors in idiopathic nephrotic syndrome, circulating immune factors in several types of glomerulonephritis, mutations in podocyte, or slit diaphragm proteins in inherited forms of nephrotic syndrome.

Proteinuria in glomerular disease is due to increased filtration of macromolecules (such as albumin) across the glomerular capillary wall. The latter consists of three components: the fenestrated endothelial cell, the glomerular basement membrane (GBM), and the epithelial cell foot processes. The pores between the foot processes are closed by a thin membrane called the slit diaphragm. The filtration of macromolecules across the glomerular capillary wall is normally restricted by charge-selectivity and size-selectivity. The GBM have a...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Service de Nephrologie Pediatrique, Hôpital Necker-Enfants Malades, Université Paris-Descartes, Paris, 75743, Cedex 15, France

    Patrick Niaudet (Professor)

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  1. Patrick Niaudet
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Correspondence to Patrick Niaudet .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia

    Abdelaziz Y. Elzouki (Professor of Pediatrics) (Professor of Pediatrics)

  2. National Center of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (NCAAI), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    Harb A. Harfi (Director) (Director)

  3. Consultant Pediatric Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Islamic Hospital, Amman, Jordan

    Hisham M. Nazer

  4. Seattle Children's Hospital University of Washington, School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA

    F. Bruder Stapleton (Professor and Chair Department of Pediatrics) (Professor and Chair Department of Pediatrics)

  5. Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Woman and Infants Hospital, Providence, RI, USA

    William Oh (Professor of Pediatrics) (Professor of Pediatrics)

  6. University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL, USA

    Richard J. Whitley (Professor of Pediatrics) (Professor of Pediatrics)

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Niaudet, P. (2012). Nephrotic Syndrome in Children. In: Elzouki, A.Y., Harfi, H.A., Nazer, H.M., Stapleton, F.B., Oh, W., Whitley, R.J. (eds) Textbook of Clinical Pediatrics. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-02202-9_301

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-02202-9_301

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-02201-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-02202-9

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