Induction and maintenance therapy, and outcomes in all patients and according to the three different periods
| Overall 499 patients | P1 106 patients | P2 158 patients | P3 235 patients | P values | |
| Methylprednisolone pulses, N (%) | 351 (70.3) | 63 (67.7) | 120 (83.9) | 168 (73.7) | 0.01 |
| Immunosuppressive drugs, induction | |||||
| None, N (%) | 66 (13.2) | 28 (29) | 26 (17.9) | 12 (5.4) | <0.0001 |
| Cyclophosphamide, N (%) | 258 (51.7) | 49 (51) | 95 (65.5) | 114 (51.3) | 0.016 |
| Azathioprine, N (%) | 42 (8.4) | 15 (15.6) | 18 (12.4) | 9 (4.0) | <0.0001 |
| Mycophenolate, N (%) | 79 (15.8) | 0 | 4 (2.7) | 75 (33.8) | <0.0001 |
| Others*, N (%) | 17 (3.4) | 3 (3.1) | 2 (1.4) | 12 (5.4) | ns |
| Immunosuppressive drugs, maintenance | |||||
| None, N (%) | 140 (28) | 66 (68.7) | 50 (34) | 24 (10.9) | <0.0001 |
| Cyclophosphamide, N (%) | 7 (1.4) | 1 (1) | 5 (3.4) | 1 (0.45) | ns |
| Azathioprine, N (%) | 152 (30.4) | 27 (28) | 58 (39) | 67 (30.6) | ns |
| Mycophenolate, N (%) | 143 (28.6) | 1 (1) | 22 (15.1) | 120 (54.8) | <0.0001 |
| Others*, N (%) | 18 (3.6) | 0 | 11 (7.5) | 7 (3.2) | ns |
| Outcomes† | |||||
| Partial renal remission, N (%) | 122 (25.5) | 7 (6.9) | 43 (28.1) | 72 (32.1) | <0.0001 |
| Complete renal remission, N (%) | 246 (51.4) | 41 (49.6) | 74 (48.4) | 131 (58.5) | 0.01 |
| CKD, N (%) | 31 (6.4) | 8 (7.9) | 13 (8.5) | 10 (4.5) | <0.0001 |
| ESRD, N (%) | 42 (8.8) | 25 (24.8) | 14 (9.1) | 3 (1.3) | <0.0001 |
| Death, N (%) | 37 (7.7) | 20 (19.8) | 9 (5.9) | 8 (3.6) | <0.0001 |
P, period; P1: 1970–1985; P2:1986–2001; P3: 2002–2016. P values refer to χ2 test with 2 df.
*‘Others’ includes ciclosporin A, methotrexate, rituximab.
†Outcome was available in 478 patients (P1, 101 patients; P2, 153 patients; P3, 224 patients).
CKD, chronic kidney disease; ESRD, end-stage renal disease.