We aimed to evaluate the patients who were diagnosed as
Henoch Schonlein purpura (HSP) for disease characteristics and prognosis of those with joint, gastrointestinal (GI), and renal involvement. Two hundred and fifty-four children who were followed up with the diagnosis of HSP in the Pediatric Nephrology Clinics of Meram Medical Faculty of Selcuk University and Medical Faculty of Gazi University between January 2003 and June 2006 were retrospectively evaluated. The clinical follow-up and treatment regimens of patients in whom renal biopsy was performed were evaluated in detail. The study group consisted of 254 children, 147 boys (57.8%) and 107 girls (42.2%), and the ratio of boys to girls was 1.37. The percentages of skin, joint, GI, and renal manifestations were 100%, 66%, 56%, and 30%, respectively. Eight patients had
intussusception. Five of them recovered with
steroid treatment only while three patients were operated on. Sixty-four patients (44%) with GI involvement had severe disease and were successfully treated with
steroids. Renal biopsy was performed in 26 patients. Among those 26 patients, two of them recovered spontaneously within 3 and 4 weeks. Ten patients improved with only
steroid treatment while 12 patients recovered with
steroid and
cyclophosphamide treatment. Two patients were resistant to
steroid and
cyclophosphamide treatment and were treated with
cyclosporine A. We believe that
steroid therapy given to the HSP patients with GI manifestations might be helpful to prevent probable complications such as GI
bleeding and
intussusception. In addition, combined
therapy with
steroid and
cyclophosphamide can usually be an appropriate treatment for patients with nephrotic
proteinuria.