Acute poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis

Acute poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis (APSGN) is the classic glomerulonephritis related to bacterial infections and used to be the most common type of immune complex glomerulonephritis in the past. Therefore, APSGN has been extensively studied, and we learned a tremendous amount of information about the pathogenesis of immune complex glomerulonephritis through these studies. In recent decades, after the widespread use of antibiotics, APSGN became much less common, particularly in developed countries, and became a rare diagnosis in the average nephropathology laboratory. However, APSGN still remains a frequent form of glomerulonephritis in third-world countries, particularly in areas where the disease occurs in epidemics. In this chapter, we review the pathogenesis, clinical presentation, renal biopsy findings, morphologic differential diagnosis, and clinicopathologic correlations of APSGN.