The Spectrum of Lupus Nephritis

Abstract

Fifty cases of SLE have been collected over a ten year period and the incidence and clinical picture of LN reviewed in the light of other published data. Lupus nephritis, like SLE, has a variable pattern of its own with a wide spectrum of renal involvement–evaluation of therapy and prognosis will have to be conducted against this background. Lupus nephritis may present as a renal syndrome only, without any of the other manifestations of SLE. Renal involvement in SLE is common, but this does not necessarily indicate a poor short-term prognosis. In the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital series a sustained raised blood pressure and the onset of renal insufficiency influenced the prognosis adversely.

Clinicopathological features of atypical membranous nephropathy with unknown etiology in adult Chinese patients

“…More than 50 years ago, people found a kind of membranous nephropathy patients, whose pathological characteristics similar to lupus nephritis, but unable to make a clinical diagnosis of SLE. In 1964, Simenhoff and Merrill [ 13 ] considered that “lupus nephritis may present as a renal syndrome only, without any of the other manifestations of SLE,” but with the knowledge of SLE, many and many scholars regarded the SLE as a kind of “systemic disease,” whose pathological changes not only confined to a certain organs, and such type of “lupus nephritis” with only kidney injury in the subsequent follow-up only a small number of these patients can be diagnosed as SLE. Previous literature reported in 101 patients with similar MN, only 12 people in an average follow-up of 3 years to be testified the clinical diagnosis of SLE.…”

The Effect of Treatment with Prednisone and Nitrogen Mustard on the Renal Lesions and Life Span of Patients with Lupus Glomerulonephritis

“…In addition to HN2 [4,13,24,26,43], corticosteroids have been used in combination with other drugs (table IV); thioguanine [10,12], 6-mercaptopurine [31,45], azathioprine [2,8,12,22,29,32,35,46,47,50], cyclophospha mide [5,9,22,48,51], methotrexate [9], thiomycetin [49] or chlorambucil [4,22]. Bariety et al [4] deliberately used LDS with a combination of an alkalyting agent (HN2 or chlorambucil) and an antimetabolite (cyclophosphamide or 6-mercaptopurine).…”

Glucocorticoids in Nephrology

“…Since the introduction of renal biopsy it has become apparent that SLE-nephropathy includes a wide range of renal disorders, from focal glomerulitis through acute and subacute to chronic glomerulonephritis. It is important to emphasize that it is possible to find indubitable evidence of SLE in renal biopsies even in cases in which there is no clinical evidence of renal disease, and also that during an acute attack of SLE there may, for example, be proteinuria without histological evidence of SLE-nephropathy (15). This is the reason that the incidence of SLE-nephropathy in SLE is given variously as from 53 O/,, to76 O1, (15).…”

“…It is important to emphasize that it is possible to find indubitable evidence of SLE in renal biopsies even in cases in which there is no clinical evidence of renal disease, and also that during an acute attack of SLE there may, for example, be proteinuria without histological evidence of SLE-nephropathy (15). This is the reason that the incidence of SLE-nephropathy in SLE is given variously as from 53 O/,, to76 O1, (15). A clinical nephrotic syndrome is found in about 30 O/,, of cases of SLE-nephropathy.…”