Your kidney can be affected by a wide range of diseases and conditions causing damage to the glomeruli. The glomerulus is the tiny filtering unit of your kidney where the toxic substances from your blood are removed. The glomerulus is also involved in the formation of urine. The diseases that affect your glomeruli are termed as glomerular diseases. Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) is termed to describe scarring of certain parts of glomeruli in your kidney.
Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis may occur in any of the age groups, especially, in children and adults. Males are more likely to develop this condition than females.
You may not experience any symptoms in the early stages. If the condition is moderate to severe, you may experience the following signs and symptoms:
Notify your doctor if you experience the following symptoms of kidney failure:
Following are the possible complications of FSGS:
To reduce the progression of your kidney failure, your doctor might advise certain measures that include the following:
The diagnosis involves assessing your kidney function by reviewing your medical history and certain laboratory tests. Your doctor might order any of the following tests to confirm the diagnosis.
Your doctor recommends the nephritic syndrome treatment based on the underlying cause. Your doctor might order any of the following medications:
It is not a single factor that causes, there are multiple. Sometimes, the cause of FSGS remains unknown. The scars may result from an infection, use of certain drugs, or conditions such as diabetes, sickle cell anemia, or HIV infection. A history of other glomerular diseases may also cause FSGS. The different types of FSGS are listed below: