An analysis of pathologic results and complications on 250 percutaneous renal biopsies, examined during a period of 6 years (October, 1968 to September, 1974) at Seoul National University Hospital, was carried out in relation to biopsy procedure.
Renal tissue was obtained in 90.4% of all the biopsies; the tissue contained glomeruli 83.6% and was adequate for pathologic diagnosis in 80.8% of the biopsies, and in 9.6% obtained no renal tissue. By studying serial sections, the maximum number of glomeruli could be obtained, thereby increasing the accuracy of the pathologic interpretation, The number of glomeruli seen in sections from each piece of renal tissue taken in present series was as following; obtained number of glomeruli ranged from 0 to 52 or more (average 13.4 glomeruli) and observed more than 5 glomeruli in 181 biopsies.
Renal biopsy was able to establish e diagnosis in 21.3% of patients studied when the clinical impression or the course of disease was incorrect; it confirmed the clinical impression in 75.2 % of studies, and in 3.5% neither the pathologist or the clinician could arrive at a definite diagnosis in spite of adequate renal tissue for diagnosis.
Definite symptoms or signs of complications were observed in 10.4% of 250 renal biopsies. There were no deaths, and no patient required an operation eighteen patients developed gross hematuria, and three patients had prolonged hematuria. Tie serious complications were perirenal hematoma (one case) and paralytic ileus (one case), which we treated conservatively.
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