# Severe foot process effacement tied to renal failure in 1,506 IgA nephropathy patients

- Published: 2026-11-11 12:07 UTC
- Section: Life & Health › Medicine
- Tags: IgA nephropathy, foot process effacement, renal disease progression, end-stage renal disease risk, Cox regression, Kaplan-Meier analysis, prognostic nomogram, immunosuppressive therapy, BMC Nephrology
- URL: https://realtech.media/news/rt-927f206c55819b9b27871b84_severe_foot_process/

**A retrospective analysis of 1,506 biopsy-proven IgA nephropathy cases found severe foot process effacement to be an independent risk factor for renal failure.**

![Severe foot process effacement tied to renal failure in 1,506 IgA nephropathy patients](https://realtech.media/media/2026/11/accdef00ee35c396.jpg)
*CoRus13, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0*

A retrospective study published in BMC Nephrology examined 1,506 patients with biopsy-proven IgA nephropathy (IgAN). It assessed how the severity of foot process effacement (FPE) relates to prognosis and to response to treatment [1]. Patients were divided into three groups by degree of FPE and followed for at least 12 months [1].

The authors used Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox regression to explore the link between FPE and adverse renal outcomes. To evaluate the prognostic model they used the concordance index (C-index), the area under the ROC curve (AUC) and a calibration curve [1].

## Prognosis and risk model

Patients in the severe FPE group had more severe clinical and pathological manifestations than the other groups. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed a significantly higher risk of renal failure in this group (log-rank P < 0.01) [1].

Multivariate Cox regression indicated that FPE may be an independent risk factor for renal prognosis in IgAN (adjusted HR 3.688, 95% CI 1.548-8.784, P = 0.009) [1]. Subgroup analysis suggested that the FPE level deserves particular attention in male patients aged 45 years or younger [1].

The researchers also built a nomogram that includes FPE to estimate the risk of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) at 3, 5 and 8 years. Its C-index was 0.93, and the AUCs were 0.958, 0.964 and 0.892 for the three time points. The authors report that the model was well calibrated [1].

## Treatment response

The study found that FPE severity is an important factor influencing response to treatment, and that immunosuppressive therapy (IST) can overcome this influence [1]. For patients with severe FPE, the authors describe IST as an essential intervention and recommend a treatment duration of no less than 12 months [1].

The authors conclude that FPE serves as an independent predictor of renal progression in IgAN and has significant clinical value [1]. The findings come from a retrospective cohort and are reported as associations with renal outcomes.

## Sources

1. [BMC Nephrology](https://doi.org/10.1186/s12882-026-05421-y)
2. [bioengineer.org](https://bioengineer.org/severe-foot-process-effacement-predicts-renal-disease-progression-in-iga-nephropathy)

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Source: RealTech, realtech.media — https://realtech.media/news/rt-927f206c55819b9b27871b84_severe_foot_process/