Home > Encyclopedia of Medicine > Nephrotic Syndrome

Definition

Nephrotic syndrome is a collection of symptoms which occur because the tiny blood vessels (the glomeruli) in the kidney become leaky. This allows protein (normally never passed out in the urine) to leave the body in large amounts.

Description

The glomeruli (a single one is called a glomerulus) are tiny tufts of capillaries (the smallest type of blood vessels). Glomeruli are located in the kidneys, where they allow a certain amount of water and waste products to leave the blood, ultimately to be passed out of the body in the form of urine. Normally, proteins are unable to pass through the glomerular filter. Nephrotic syndrome, however, occurs when this filter becomes defective, allowing large quantities of protein to leave the blood circulation, and pass out or the body in the urine.

Patients with nephrotic syndrome are from all age groups, although in children there is an increased risk of the...