Postpartum nephrotic syndrome

During pregnancy, women's bodies will become particularly weak due to childbirth, and some women will develop nephrotic syndrome. For this postpartum nephrotic syndrome, as long as it is actively treated, it can be cured, but it will also have certain harms, which are generally caused by the disease of pregnancy. So what should you pay attention to if you have postpartum nephrotic syndrome?

Is postpartum nephrotic syndrome serious?

Generally speaking, nephrotic syndrome rarely occurs after delivery. After six months of pregnancy, many patients may develop pregnancy-induced hypertension. At this time, a large amount of proteinuria may appear, reaching the standard of nephrotic syndrome, that is, the 24-hour urine volume exceeds 3.5 grams. However, this is related to pregnancy. After pregnancy, most patients can slowly recover from pregnancy-induced hypertension.

If the patient did not have this condition before delivery, but only developed a large amount of proteinuria after delivery, then this situation may be primary nephrotic syndrome, which may not be related to pregnancy. Nephrotic syndrome is a relatively serious disease. Due to various reasons, the patient's glomerular filtration barrier is damaged and a large amount of proteinuria occurs. Because there is too much protein, the protein level in the plasma is very low, and various complications may occur, such as infection, thrombosis, and acute renal failure. If long-term proteinuria is not effectively controlled, it may cause renal failure or even uremia.

Postpartum nephrotic syndrome is very important and must be treated actively. Some patients experience obvious edema and increased foam in the urine during pregnancy, which manifests as heavy proteinuria, with 24-hour urine protein quantity greater than 3.5g. As the edema subsides after delivery, if the patient is not treated promptly in the clinic, renal failure may occur 10 or 15 years later. Therefore, postpartum nephrotic syndrome requires active and effective treatment. The most commonly used treatment method in clinical practice is immunosuppressant therapy, and commonly used drugs include hormones, tacrolimus, and cyclosporine. The specific treatment plan should be determined according to the pathological type. If the patient has minimal change disease, hormones alone can be used, with better therapeutic effects. If the patient has membranous nephropathy, the effect of hormone alone may be poor. Because the patient is breastfeeding, cyclophosphamide is not recommended. Tacrolimus and cyclosporine can be used for treatment. The course of treatment is six months to one year, with regular outpatient follow-up.