Journal de néphrologie et thérapeutique

Clinicopathological Study of Non-Lupus Full-House Nephropathy

Abstract

Cristiane Bitencourt Dias, Lecticia Jorge Barbosa, Leonardo Testagrossa, Denise Avancini Malheiros and Viktoria Woronik

Background: Non-lupus full-house nephropathy is defined as “full-house” immunofluorescence pattern in patients without systemic lupus erythematosus. We compiled our adult case series with non-lupus full-house nephropathy evaluating etiology, clinical presentation and outcomes and in addition comparing them with lupus nephritis patients from our base records.
Methods: We included patients with full-house immunofluorescence pattern in renal biopsies collected between January 2000 and January 2017, excluding lupus nephritis. Patients with Non-lupus full-house nephropathy that did not show any underlying disease (the idiopathic group) were compared with a group of lupus nephritis patients extracted from our database (n=20).
Results: Non-lupus full-house nephropathy was identified in 20 patients (14 males) with mean age, 40.05 ± 12.37 years; mean serum creatinine, 1.63 ± 1.41 mg/dl and mean proteinuria, 6.35 ± 4.48 g/day. The most common light microscopy pattern was membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis in 9 cases (45%). During follow-up 4 patients met the criteria for systemic lupus erythematosus; 5 with others systemic diseases and 11 with idiopathic form. On last follow-up visit serum creatinine was higher in idiopathic non-lupus full-house nephropathy group compared to fullhouse lupus nephritis.
Conclusion: Non-lupus full-house nephropathy is a rare condition, affecting mainly males, with the predominance of the idiopathic form and this form showing higher final creatinine levels compared to full-house lupus nephritis.