Thin glomerular basement membrane

What it means

Decreased thickness of the glomerular basement membrane (GBM), measured from endothelial to visceral epithelial plasma membrane and mainly attributable to a decrease in thickness of the lamina densa, generally to an overall thickness more than 2 standard deviations less than that of the normal mean GBM thickness for health age- and sex matched individuals. May be focal or diffuse, although the term thin GBMs generally implies thinning of over 50% of GBMs.

This finding is demonstrated on renal biopsy.

Rare diseases that can present with this1

The range is how often this sign appears among people diagnosed with each disease — it is not a probability of having any of them. Many of these signs also occur in common, non-rare conditions. A sign on this page is a conversation to have with a clinician, not a conclusion.

Part of the broader category