Idiopathic Nephrotic Syndrome

Pediatric idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (INS) is a rare disease for which the optimal therapeutic strategy has not yet been defined. A network of clinicians treating complicated forms of this disease (grouped within the Société de Néphrologie Pédiatrique, SNP) exists, but to date there is no prospective cohort following up these patients that would facilitate the development of cohort-nested trials. This absence of structured follow up makes it difficult to set up prospective studies. The main objective is to create a prospective cohort of pediatric INS patients to collect cases treated in SNP centers, to study their epidemiological characteristics, and to provide a basis for comparison for future cohort-nested trials.

In a monocentric, later multicentric prospective approach the FOrMe registry (The German Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis and Minimal Change Disease Registry) aims to generate a longitudinal cohort of 150 pediatric cases of idiopathic nephrotic syndrome and 350 adult cases of biopsy-proven Minimal Change Disease (MCD) or Focal and Segmental Glomerular Sclerosis (FSGS) over 10 years. The registry will provide a repository for biomaterials such as blood samples, DNA, urine, feces, and tissue biopsies that will be accessible to collaborators to facilitate future research on pathogenesis, diagnostics, and treatment.

This study will compare a short-term course (12 week) glucocorticoid regimen with the Conventional 24-week regimen as originally proposed by KDIGO. The purpose of the study is to determine a short-term course (12 week) of glucocorticoid decreases the time to first relapse in adults presenting with steroid sensitive nephrotic syndrome.