What Are the Diagnostic Tests for Glomerulonephritis?
The examination items for glomerulonephritis include urine tests, blood tests, and imaging studies, with a comprehensive assessment to make a definitive diagnosis. Detailed examinations can help understand the type and severity of the disease, providing a basis for subsequent treatment.
1. Urine Tests
Urine tests are an important method for diagnosing glomerulonephritis, allowing for a preliminary judgment of kidney function by observing the levels of protein, red blood cells, and white blood cells in the urine. Common examination items include urine routine tests, urine sediment microscopic examination, and urine protein quantitation. The presence of large amounts of proteinuria or hematuria in the urine generally indicates glomerular pathology. The 24-hour urine protein quantitation helps understand the specific situation of urine protein loss and is an important indicator for assessing the condition. Urine analysis is simple and rapid, often used as a preliminary screening tool.
2. Blood Tests
Blood tests can further confirm indicators related to nephritis, such as renal function indicators, immune abnormalities, and inflammation indicators.
Renal Function Tests: Detect serum creatinine, urea nitrogen, and creatinine clearance rate to assess glomerular filtration function. Abnormal indicators may suggest a decline in renal function.
Immunological Tests: Detect antinuclear antibodies, anti-streptolysin O (ASO), or C3 complement levels. These data can help clarify whether there is an immune system attack on the kidneys, such as immune nephritis.
Complete Blood Analysis: Includes hemoglobin, red blood cell count, and other items to help understand whether anemia or other related problems are caused by kidney disease.
3. Imaging Studies
Imaging studies can further intuitively observe morphological and structural changes in the kidneys.
Ultrasound Examination: Assesses kidney morphology, size, and whether there are obvious abnormalities. Acute nephritis is often accompanied by kidney enlargement, while chronic nephritis may manifest as kidney atrophy.
CT or MRI Examination: Used to observe the kidney and its surrounding tissue structures in more detail, assisting in the diagnosis of complex or atypical cases. However, they are relatively rarely used and are usually selected based on the needs of the condition.
Renal Biopsy: For patients with unknown causes of nephritis or those requiring differentiation of complex types of nephritis, renal biopsy sampling can be performed to obtain a definitive pathological diagnosis by observing kidney tissue under a microscope.
Glomerulonephritis is a disease that requires timely diagnosis and treatment, with diverse and complementary examination items. When abnormal symptoms are detected, one should seek medical attention promptly, undergo comprehensive examinations under the guidance of a doctor, and develop an individualized treatment plan based on the examination results to avoid long-term impacts on quality of life due to deterioration of the condition.
