Prognosis
During the course of treatment, it is common for younger patients suffering from HSP to have frequent relapses, but these relapses are mild compared to the initial occurrence. Sometimes, doctors will treatment a prolonged progression of relapses with steroids and azathioprine or MMF, which are both immunosuppressives.
As patients get older, the disease will stop re-occurring. While some adults have experienced HSP who had never had the disease in their youth, this is considered uncommon. As with types of inflammation, the symptoms and the rash might disappear without any leftover sign. Sometimes, scars might occur on the skin, bowel, or kidney. Since the scaring cannot be repaired, it is often associated with loss of function and even a cause of progressive kidney damage over the years.
Should this happen, your kidneys will need to be monitored by doctors and routinely tested for the presence of blood and protein in the urine. Should protein be leaking out of the kidneys at a high rate, you will be asked to start taking an ACE inhibitor, usually enalapril or ramapril or an ARB, such as irbesartan. Blood pressure lowering drugs can also be used to stem the flow of protein in the urine.
However, children rarely have to worry about these issues at the end of their treatment. By catching HSP in the early stages, any permanent damage can be avoided.
