Is Kidney Biopsy a Must in Diagnosing Kidney Disease

Kidney biopsy is a histologic diagnosis and it can provide a guideline for making treatment plan. However, it is an invasive test and may lead to a myriad of complications. So, is kidney biopsy a must in diagnosing Kidney Disease?
Primarily, it is essential for you to learn the common complications of kidney biopsy, as follows:
Hematuria
Approximately all patients experience microscopic hematuria and then it transfers into gross hematuria 1 to 3 days later. In most cases, the patients have a favorable prognosis. However, in some cases, big blood clots may be excreted, which indicate serious kidney damage. If necessary, surgery or nephrectomy should be performed.
Perirenal hematoma
Perirenal hematoma is commonly seen after kidney biopsy, accounting for 48~85% cases. If serious hematoma occurs, the patients should take timely treatment to prevent infection.
Arteriovenous fistula
It occurs in 15~19% cases and typically presents serious hematuria ,perirenal hematoma, refractory hypertension and progressive heart failure. In about 95% cases, surgery is needed.
As the patients with Kidney Disease have to carry high risk in performing kidney biopsy, is there any other diagnostic tests helping them free from it?
In our Hospital, a set of featured and complete diagnostic tests performed. These diagnostic tests can give an accurate the evaluation of illness condition and provide a reliable guideline for making treatment. The diagnostic tests ordered in diagnosing Kidney Disease include:
Tests for uremic toxins
The urmic toxins mainly include BUN, CR, UA, BMG, CycC, RBP, HCY, IL-6 and PTH. Dangerous levels of urmic toxins in body not only put extra strain on kidneys, but also increase the risk of other complications. For example, increased HCY level can increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases.
The tests can tell the specific levels of uremic toxins in body and are important reference in evaluating prognosis of Kidney Disease as well as risk of causing other complications.
Diagnostic tests for kidney damage
Diagnostic tests for kidney damage mainly include U-TP, U-malb, U-TRF,U-IGG, etc. The tests aim at:
* Telling whether kidneys are damaged
* Differentiating the injured kidney sites: glomeruli or tubule
* Reflect accurately the kidney damage degree and provide guideline for making treatment plan
Diagnostic tests for complements
Complements include C3, C4, CH50,C1q and B factor. Reduced complements indicate activation of complement system.
Urinary protein electrophoresis
This test can decide the origin of protein in urine and can differentiate different types of Kidney Diseases. Also, it is used to judge if the patients are sensitive to drugs.
Hematuria position diagnosis
The test can tell the origin of red blood cells, glomeruli or urinary tract and can reflect the severity of hematuria. The test values are important reference to guiding the subsequent treatment.
Tests for lymphocyte subsets
Lymphocyte subsets mainly include CD4, CD8,B cells, NK cells. The test values are important indexes in reflecting immune condition of patients with Kidney Disease. They can important reference value to evaluate the immune states.
Based on the causes of your kidney disease, one or more than one diagnosis items are used. They can give your disease an accurate evaluation without trauma at all.