BACKGROUND: IgA-dominant acute postinfectious glomerulonephritis (APIGN) is a recently recognized morphologic variant of APIGN, but its clinicopathologic features were not clearly characterized. We will present demographic, clinical and renal biopsy findings from seven patients with IgA-dominant APIGN with a literature review. METHODS: All renal biopsy specimens (n=1,119) processed by the Department of Pathology in Hanyang University Hospital from 2005 to 2009 were reviewed. Seven patients with IgA-dominant APIGN were identified, and their clinical data analyzed. RESULTS: All patients had renal failure, hematuria and proteinuria. One was diabetic, and none of the patients had previous renal diseases. Three had clinical infections at the time of presentation: 2 with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and one with rickettsial infection. Light microscopically diffuse endocapillary proliferative and exudative glomerulonephritis was found in all cases. Immunofluorescence microscopy showed granular IgA deposits along peripheral capillary walls and in mesangium. Ultrastructurally, subepithelial 'humps' with mesangial deposits were noted. End-stage renal disease developed in two patients, chronic renal failure was stationary in two, and azotemia improved in three. CONCLUSIONS: Various infections including rickettsiosis preceded IgA-dominant APIGN in both diabetics and nondiabetics. Because the prognosis of IgA-dominant APIGN is poor, early diagnosis based on renal biopsy is required.
Azotemia ; Biopsy ; Capillaries ; Early Diagnosis ; Glomerulonephritis ; Hematuria ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin A ; Kidney Failure, Chronic ; Light ; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus ; Microscopy, Fluorescence ; Prognosis ; Proteinuria ; Renal Insufficiency

ABO-incompatible kidney transplantation (ABOi KT) was introduced to expand the donor pool and minimize shortage of kidneys for transplantation. Because improved outcomes of ABOi KT were reported in Japan in the early 2000s, the number of ABOi KTs has been increasing worldwide. In addition, a better understanding of immune pathogenesis and subsequent aggressive immunosuppression has helped to make effective desensitization protocols. Current strategies of ABOi KT consist of pretransplant antibody removal using plasmapheresis or immunoadsorption to prevent hyperacute rejection and potent maintenance immunosuppression, such as tacrolimus and mycophenolate mofetil, to inhibit antibody-mediated rejection. Recent outcomes of ABOi KT are comparable with ABO-compatible KT. However, there are still many problems to be resolved. Very high anti-ABO antibody producers are difficult to desensitize. In addition, ABOi KT is associated with an increased risk of infection and possibly malignancy due to aggressive immunosuppression. Optimization of desensitization and patient-tailored immunosuppression protocols are needed to achieve better outcomes of ABOi KT. This review provides an overview of the history, immune mechanism, immunosuppressive protocol, outcomes, current obstacles, and future perspectives in ABOi KT.
Blood Group Incompatibility ; Humans ; Immunosuppression ; Japan ; Kidney Transplantation* ; Kidney* ; Plasmapheresis ; Tacrolimus ; Tissue Donors

A 71-year-old woman with minimal change disease visited our clinic complaining of pleuritic chest pain. Cefepime was given under the impression that she had pneumonia. Three days after cefepime administration, she became unconscious. A brain MRI scan was non-revealing and an EEG showed triphasic waves. As there was no evidence of septic, uremic or hepatic encephalopathy, we suspected cefepime-induced neurotoxicity. Cefepime was stopped and she underwent hemodialysis to decrease the blood levels of the drug. Following hemodialysis, she regained consciousness.
Aged ; Brain ; Cephalosporins ; Chest Pain ; Consciousness ; Electroencephalography ; Female ; Hepatic Encephalopathy ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Nephrosis, Lipoid ; Neurotoxicity Syndromes ; Pneumonia ; Renal Dialysis ; Unconscious (Psychology)

Malaria is caused by four species of the genus Plasmodium. Plasmodium vivax malaria is the most common malarial infection in Korea and usually has benign clinical course. However, serious complications such as severe anemia, pulmonary edema, acute renal failure are reported in Plasmodium vivax malaria. We report a case of Plasmodium vivax malaria complicated with acute renal failure, jaundice and thrombocytopenia. A 56-year-old male was transferred to our hospital with acute renal failure, jaundice and thrombocytopenia. 10 days before admission, he had intermittent fever, chill, myalgia, and was treated with some medications under the impression of URI. Laboratory findings showed that hemoglobin was 11.5 g/dL, platelet 44,000/mm3, blood urea nitrogen 73 mg/dL, creatinine 4.0 mg/dL, total bilirubin 5.2 mg/dL, direct bilirubin 4.0 mg/dL. Serologic tests for leptospirosis, rickettsia, EB virus and CMV were negative. Ring form trophozoites were found in red blood cells, suggesting Plasmodium vivax malaria. Following anti-malarial therapy, acute renal failure, jaundice and thrombocytopenia were recovered to normal. From this case, malarial infection should be included as a differential diagnosis in a febrile patient with acute renal failure, jaundice and thrombocytopenia.
Acute Kidney Injury ; Anemia ; Bilirubin ; Blood Platelets ; Blood Urea Nitrogen ; Creatinine ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Erythrocytes ; Fever ; Hemoglobins ; Humans ; Jaundice ; Korea ; Leptospirosis ; Malaria ; Malaria, Vivax ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Plasmodium ; Plasmodium vivax ; Pulmonary Edema ; Rickettsia ; Serologic Tests ; Thrombocytopenia ; Trophozoites ; Viruses

We report a case of lupus cystitis as the manifestation of lupus flare, and pure red cell aplasia resulting from the use of azathioprine in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). A 30-year-old female with a nine-year history of SLE was admitted to our hospital with complaint of anemia and azotemia. Eighteen and three months before, she had two episodes of lupus enteritis treated with high dose steroid. She had serologic evidence of an SLE flare at admission. Abdominal computed tomography revealed bilateral hydronephrosis and hydroureter with marked diffuse thickening of the urinary bladder wall, suggesting lupus cystitis. Treatment with corticosteroid led to prompt normalization of her renal function. Use of azathioprine may lead to severe anemia. The bone marrow examination revealed a decrease of erythropoiesis, suggesting pure red cell aplasia. Serologic tests for hepatitis B and parvovirus B19 were negative. There was immediate hemoglobin recovery after complete azathioprine discontinuation.
Adult ; Anemia ; Azathioprine ; Azotemia ; Bone Marrow Examination ; Cystitis ; Enteritis ; Erythropoiesis ; Female ; Hemoglobins ; Hepatitis B ; Humans ; Hydronephrosis ; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic ; Parvovirus ; Red-Cell Aplasia, Pure ; Serologic Tests ; Urinary Bladder

PURPOSE: Infectious complications may remain a significant cause of morbidity and mortality following renal transplantation. This study was undertaken to investigate current status of infectious complications in renal transplant recipients. METHODS: Clinical data were retrospectively analyzed from 534 recipients who underwent kidney transplantation in Hanyang University Hospital from February 1986 to September 2006. RESULTS: 251 recipients (47%) had 390 episodes of infectious complications. Most patients (86.8%) suffer two or less episodes of infection. The skin and soft tissue (40.7%) infection was the most common over the whole post-transplant periods, and the most common causative organism was virus (55.2%). Among the bacterial infections, urinary tract (43%) was the most common site of infection. Among the viral infections, varicella-zoster virus was the most frequent. Increasing age at kidney transplantation (> or =40 years) was associated with the risk of infection within one month after transplantation. Both acute rejection and loss of allograft function were associated with the risk of infectious complications. The overall profile of infectious complications occurring after renal transplantation did not seem to be changed during the last two decades. However, the mortality rate associated with the infection showed a decreasing tendency over the past decade. CONCLUSION: Infectious complications are still important to affect the outcomes of kidney transplantation. Strategies to further reduce the infectious complications are necessary.
Bacterial Infections ; Follow-Up Studies ; Herpesvirus 3, Human ; Humans ; Kidney ; Kidney Transplantation ; Rejection (Psychology) ; Retrospective Studies ; Skin ; Transplantation, Homologous ; Transplants ; Urinary Tract ; Viruses

BK virus-associated nephropathy (BKVAN) is one of the major causes of allograft dysfunction in kidney transplant (KT) patients. We compared BKVAN combined with acute rejection (BKVAN/AR) with BKVAN alone in KT patients. We retrospectively analyzed biopsy-proven BKVAN in KT patients from 2000 to 2011 at Seoul National University Hospital. Among 414 biopsies from 951 patients, biopsy-proven BKVAN was found in 14 patients. Nine patients had BKVAN alone, while 5 patients had both BKVAN and acute cellular rejection. BKVAN in the BKVAN alone group was detected later than in BKVAN/AR group (21.77 vs 6.39 months after transplantation, P=0.03). Serum creatinine at diagnosis was similar (2.09 vs 2.00 mg/dL). Histological grade was more advanced in the BKVAN/AR group (P=0.034). Serum load of BKV, dose of immunosuppressants, and tacrolimus level showed a higher tendency in the BKVAN alone group; however it was not statistically significant. After anti-rejection therapy, immunosuppression was reduced in the BKVAN/AR group. Renal functional deterioration over 1 yr after BKVAN diagnosis was similar between the two groups (P=0.665). These findings suggest that the prognosis of BKVAN/AR after anti-rejection therapy followed by anti-BKV therapy might be similar to that of BKVAN alone after anti-BKV therapy.
Acute Disease ; Adult ; Antiviral Agents/therapeutic use ; BK Virus/*physiology ; Creatinine/blood ; Female ; *Graft Rejection/diagnosis/virology ; Humans ; Immunosuppressive Agents/administration & dosage ; Kidney/*virology ; Kidney Diseases/pathology/surgery/*virology ; *Kidney Transplantation ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polyomavirus Infections/drug therapy/*etiology/pathology ; Retrospective Studies ; Tacrolimus/administration & dosage ; Time Factors ; Transplantation, Homologous/adverse effects ; Tumor Virus Infections/drug therapy/*etiology/pathology

Cyclophosphamide is frequently used for the treatment of severe lupus nephritis, but is very rarely associated with dilutional hyponatremia. Recently we experienced a case of water intoxication following low-dose intravenous cyclophosphamide. Five hours after one dose of intravenous pulse cyclophosphamide 750 mg, the patient developed nausea, vomiting, and general weakness. Serum sodium concentration revealed 114 mEq/L and her hyponatremia was initially treated with hypertonic saline infusion. Then her serum sodium concentration rapidly recovered to normal with water restriction alone. During the course of intravenous pulse cyclophosphamide therapy, one must be aware of the possibility of significant water retention.
Cyclophosphamide* ; Humans ; Hyponatremia ; Lupus Nephritis ; Nausea ; Sodium ; Vomiting ; Water Intoxication*

Mature T-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) has more frequent extranodal involvement and is less sensitive to chemotherapy than B-cell lymphoma. Peripheral T-cell lymphoma unspecified (PTCL-U) is rarely combined with pulmonary or CNS involvement. We report a case of PTCL-U with lung and CNS involvement that was treated with high-dose chemotherapy followed by autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT). A 62-year-old man was admitted with right-side weakness and paresthesias, and was diagnosed with PTCL-U after alung biopsy. Successful complete remission was achieved after threecycles of IMEP (ifosfamide, methotrexate, etoposide, and prednisone) chemotherapywith concurrent intrathecal chemotherapy and subsequent high-dose chemotherapy with ASCT to treat potential advanced stage PTCL-U. The non-anthracycline-containing IMEP regimen can be effective for PTCL-U, especially in cases with CNS involvement.
Biopsy ; Central Nervous System ; Etoposide ; Humans ; Lung ; Lymphoma, B-Cell ; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin ; Lymphoma, T-Cell, Peripheral ; Methotrexate ; Middle Aged ; Paresthesia ; Stem Cell Transplantation ; T-Lymphocytes

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The value of hydration with sodium bicarbonate and N-acetylcysteine (NAC) in the prevention of radiocontrast-induced nephropathy is questionable. This study investigated whether sodium bicarbonate hydration with or without NAC has a more protective role in the prevention of radiocontrast-induced nephropathy than saline hydration with or without NAC. METHODS: We prospectively studied 100 patients with significant proteinuria (> or = 500 mg/d), azotemia (serum creatinine > or = 1.5 mg/dL), or diabetes mellitus who were undergoing coronary angiography using iodixanol, a nonionic iso-osmolar contrast agent. Patients were assigned randomly to receive saline infusion (S, n = 24), saline infusion plus NAC (S + NAC, n = 20), sodium bicarbonate infusion (B, n = 25), and sodium bicarbonate plus NAC (B + NAC, n = 31). Contrast-induced nephropathy was defined as an increase of 25% or more in the serum creatinine within 48 hours of contrast exposure. RESULTS: There were no significant group differences in age, sex, and basal serum creatinine. Contrast-induced nephropathy occurred in 20 patients (20%) and its incidence was not significantly different among the groups; four from group S, five from group S + NAC, five from group B, and six from group B + NAC. The incidences were not significantly different when compared between S and B, irrespective of the use of NAC (21 vs. 20%), and when compared according to the presence of pre-existing azotemia (19 vs. 20%). CONCLUSIONS: The efficacy of sodium bicarbonate hydration in the prevention of contrast-induced nephropathy seems comparable to that of saline hydration, and it was not improved by the addition of NAC.
Acetylcysteine ; Acute Kidney Injury ; Azotemia ; Contrast Media ; Coronary Angiography ; Creatinine ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Humans ; Incidence ; Prospective Studies ; Proteinuria ; Sodium ; Sodium Bicarbonate ; Sodium Chloride ; Triiodobenzoic Acids