Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease with multisystem involvement and no cure. Among patients with SLE, roughly 50% develop lupus nephritis and are at risk of developing lupus nephritis-related end-stage kidney disease (ESKD). Current therapies for…
As a nephrology trainee, everyone expects you to know all things nephron. I was having a corridor discussion with a rheumatology colleague about a recent case. He mentioned a young man who presented with acute kidney injury following…
The renal services were consulted on a man in his late 70s with a distant history of colon cancer, recent pneumonia and NSTEMI, for investigation of worsening renal function. He had sub-nephrotic range proteinuria (2-3 g/24 hours) and…
A 41 year old gentleman with no past medical history presented to ER for nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. Abdominal CT showed bilateral renal infarcts. His labs were notable for a Cr of 1.4, LDH 500 ESR 102….
Mixed cryoglobulinemia (MC) is a systemic vasculitis in which B cell clones produce IgM with rheumatoid factor activity. The disease can range in severity from isolated skin lesions to full blown renal and neurological involvement. Most patients are…
Drug-induced autoimmune diseases of the kidney include SLE-like disease and drug-induced vasculitis (DIV). As many as 10% of all diagnosed Lupus cases in the US may be drug-induced Lupus (DIL). These syndromes typically develop after drug treatment for…
Cryoglobulinemia is characterized by the presence of circulating antibodies which precipitate at cooler temperatures, and not infrequently leads to renal failure/glomerulonephritis. The stereotypical histologic lesion of cryoglobulinemia is membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis, which takes the appearance on light microscopy of…
I included two question marks in the title, since the existence of Lyme Nephritis remains controversial. However, somebody presented a case of alleged Lyme Nephritis in a recent Renal Grand Rounds which was interesting. In brief, the case…
Saw a case in the clinic today of a 40-ish year old woman who was diagnosed about a year and a half ago with Henoch-Schonlein purpura. This is notable in that usually this is a pediatric disease–though as…
RPGN is a nephrologic emergency, and one of the more exciting consult cases for nephrologists to participate in. Much like dealing with a stroke or heart attack, delays in initiating therapy can lead to substantially worsened outcomes. Prompt…
