Thanigachalam Dineshkumar

Wasp sting-induced acute kidney injury

Background Wasp stings are a common form of envenomation in tropical countries, especially in farmers. The aim of this study was to document the clinical presentation, treatment and outcomes of patients with acute kidney injury (AKI) due to multiple wasp stings in a tertiary care hospital. Methods We conducted a retrospective observational study of patients with multiple wasp stings and AKI at the Department of Nephrology between July 2011 and August 2015. The clinical features, laboratory data, treatment details and outcomes were noted. Results A total of 11 patients were included. All were from rural areas. All of them were males with age ranging from 21 to 70 years, mean age 45 ± 23 years. Six had oliguria and two had hypotension. All 11 patients had evidence of rhabdomyolysis and three also had hemolysis. Ten patients required hemodialysis with a mean number of hemodialysis sessions of 8.7 ± 2.8. Renal biopsy carried out on four patients, showed acute interstitial nephritis (AIN) in one patient, acute tubular necrosis (ATN) in two patients, and one patient had both AIN and ATN. The two patients with AIN were given steroids, while all other patients were managed with supportive measures. One patient died within 48 h of presentation due to shock. At a mean follow-up of 24 months, one had progressed to chronic kidney disease and the remaining nine had normal renal function. Conclusions Wasp sting is an occupational hazard. AKI was most commonly due to rhabdomyolysis. Early renal biopsy is indicated in those patients who do not respond to supportive measures. Timely dialysis and steroid in the case of AIN improves renal survival.

Acute kidney injury and disseminated intravascular coagulation due to mercuric chloride poisoning.

Mercury is a toxic heavy metal and occurs in organic and inorganic forms. Inorganic mercury includes elemental mercury and mercury salts. Mercury salts are usually white powder or crystals, and widely used in indigenous medicines and folk remedies in Asia. Inorganic mercury poisoning causes acute kidney injury (AKI) and gastrointestinal manifestations and can be life-threatening. We describe a case with unknown substance poisoning who developed AKI and disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). Renal biopsy showed acute tubular necrosis. Later, the consumed substance was proven to be mercuric chloride. His renal failure improved over time, and his creatinine normalized after 2 months.

Acute kidney injury in pregnancy—a single center experience

Abstract Background: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a serious complication in pregnancy, resulting in significant maternal morbidity/mortality and fetal loss. Although the incidence of pregnancy-related acute kidney injury (PRAKI) has decreased in developed countries, it is still common in developing nations. Methods: A prospective observational study was done between January 2010 and December 2014 to report the incidence, clinical spectrum, maternal and fetal outcome of AKI in pregnancy. Results: Total number of patients: 130; mean age: 25.4 ± 4.73 years. The incidence of AKI in pregnancy was 7.8%. Most of the AKI was noted in postpartum period (68%). Etiology of AKI was sepsis (39%), pre-eclampsia (21%), placental abruption (10%), acute diarrheal disease complicating pregnancy (10%), thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) (9%), postpartum hemorrhage (2%) and glomerular diseases (9%). Renal biopsy (n = 46) done in these patients showed renal cortical necrosis (16), TMA (11), acute tubular injury (9), acute tubulointerstitial disease (1) and glomerular disease (9). Live births occurred in 42% of patients with vaginal delivery in 34% cases. Thirty-four patients were managed conservatively, while 96 required dialysis. Complete recovery occurred in 56% and about 36% had persistent renal failure at 3 months. Mortality rate observed was 8%. In univariate analysis, low mean platelet count, higher peak serum creatinine, dialysis dependency at presentation and histopathologically presence of cortical necrosis and TMA predicted the progression to chronic kidney disease. Conclusion: AKI in pregnancy was common in postpartum period and sepsis being the commonest cause.

Deceased donor renal transplantation: A single center experience

Deceased donor renal transplantation (DDRT) constitutes less than 5% of all kidney transplantats in India. A retrospective analysis of 173 deceased donor renal transplants performed in a public funded government hospital was done. Mean age of the recipients was 36 years (male:female ratio 2.4:1), and that of the donors was 32.3 years (male:female ratio 6:1). The cold ischemic time was 340 ± 170 minutes. Mean follow-up period was 36 months. Forty one patients died, 75% of them in the first post – transplant year. Sepsis and cardiovascular disease were the most common causes of death. Twenty two percent had acute rejection. There was no significant difference in the incidence in the rate of acute rejection, bacterial, fungal infections and death rate between the cohorts of induction and non induction immunosuppression. The patient and death censored graft survival at 1 year were 80 and 82.6% and at 5 years were 76 and 80% respectively.

Impact of acute kidney injury on renal allograft survival

Abstract Background: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is one of the major determinants of graft survival in kidney transplantation (KTx). Renal Transplant recipients are more vulnerable to develop AKI than general population. AKI in the transplant recipient differs from community acquired, in terms of risk factors, etiology and outcome. Our aim was to study the incidence, risk factors, etiology, outcome and the impact of AKI on graft survival. Methods: A retrospective analysis of 219 renal transplant recipients (both live and deceased donor) was done. Results: AKI was observed in 112 (51.14%) recipients, with mean age of 41.5 ± 11.2 years during follow-up of 43.2 ± 12.5 months. Etiologies of AKI were infection (47.32%), rejection (26.78%), calcineurin inhibitor (CNI) toxicity (13.39%), and recurrence of native kidney disease (NKD) (4.46%). New Onset Diabetes After Transplant (NODAT) and deceased donor transplant were the significant risk factors for AKI. During follow-up 70.53% (p = .004) of AKI recipients progressed to chronic kidney disease (CKD) in contrast to only 11.21% (p = .342) of non AKI recipients. Risk factors for CKD were AKI within first year of transplant (HR: 7.32, 95%CI: 4.37–15.32, p = .007), multiple episodes of AKI (HR: 6.92, 95%CI: 3.92–9.63, p = .008), infection (HR: 3.62, 95%CI: 2.8–5.75, p = .03) and rejection (HR: 9.92 95%CI: 5.56–12.36, p = .001). Conclusion: Renal transplant recipients have high risk for AKI and it hampers long-term graft survival.

Scrub typhus meningitis in a renal transplant recipient

Scrub typhus is a rickettsial infection commonly seen in Asia. The clinical presentation ranges from nonspecific febrile illness to potentially fatal multiorgan involvement such as liver, kidney, or lung. Central nervous system involvement is uncommon. We report a 45-year-old female renal transplant recipient who presented with fever, headache, meningeal signs, graft dysfunction, and eschar. IgM antibodies against Orientia tsutsugamushi were positive by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Despite oral doxycycline therapy for 5 days, she did not improve but responded well to intravenous azithromycin. To the best of our knowledge, scrub typhus as a cause of meningitis in a renal transplant recipient has not been reported so far.

Thrombotic microangiopathy: An unusual cause of renal failure in rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is one of the commonest rheumatological diseases. Renal involvement is not common but can occur as a result of chronic inflammation as part of disease process or drug toxicity. Thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) is characterized by microangiopathic hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia, and organ failure of variable severity. Only a few cases of TMA in patients with RA were reported to date. We describe a 45-year-old female patient with RA who presented with oliguria and edema. Renal biopsy showed TMA with patchy cortical necrosis. She improved with hemodialysis and plasmapheresis.

IgA-dominant infection-related glomerulonephritis in India: A single-center experience

IgA-dominant infection-related glomerulonephritis (IRGN) is a distinct morphologic variant of IRGN, characterized by dominant or codominant glomerular deposits of IgA, mostly in elderly and patients with diabetes. More cases are being reported in recent times due to increased awareness of the disease entity and increased rate of Staphylococcus infection. It usually presents as rapidly progressive renal failure with proteinuria, and treatment guidelines for this disease entity are not well defined. We report here 12 cases of IgA-dominant IRGN seen over a period of 5 years from a single center. Clinical features, biopsy findings, treatment, and outcomes were analyzed. Out of 12 patients, eight were males. The mean age of presentation was 52.4 ± 21 years. Skin was the most common site of infection seen in six patients. Gross hematuria was seen in 4 patients and 11 had nephrotic proteinuria. Eleven had low serum C3. Only two patients had diabetes. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was the most common organism isolated in six patients. Most common histopathology was crescentic glomerulonephritis seen in seven patients, followed by endocapillary proliferation in three and diffuse proliferative glomerulonephritis in two. Hemodialysis was done in eight patients and six patients received steroid therapy. End-stage renal disease developed in three patients, chronic kidney disease in three, and three patients died due to sepsis. Various infections including MRSA and Escherichia coli were associated with IgA-dominant IRGN both in patients with diabetes and nondiabetics. Suspicion and recognition of the disease is important as it has therapeutic and prognostic implications.

Two consecutive recurrences of crescentic immunoglobulin A nephropathy in a renal transplant recipient

We report a 21-year-old male who developed end-stage renal disease, probably due to immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN), received a renal transplant from his mother, which was lost due to crescentic IgAN after 18 months. Two years later, he received a second transplant from a deceased donor. He developed rapidly progressive graft dysfunction 3 years later. Allograft biopsy revealed crescentic IgAN, which was successfully treated with intravenous steroids and cyclophosphamide. Recurrence of IgAN in two successive allografts in one patient has not been reported previously.

Crescentic infection related glomerulonephritis in adult and its outcome

The epidemiology of infection-related glomerulonephritis (IRGN) is changing in recent times both in developed and developing nations. Although published studies showed renal outcome in adult IRGN was not as benign as in children, literature regarding clinical profile and outcome of crescentic form of adult IRGN is scarce; hence, we aimed to study the clinical profile of crescentic IRGN. We conducted a retrospective observational study in patients with crescentic IRGN in adults at the Department of Nephrology, Madras medical college, Chennai between 2009 and 2014. A total of 47 patients were included with a mean follow-up of 9.9 ± 4.2 months. The mean age was 42 ± 13.5 years. About 19.1% of patients had diabetes. The skin was the most common site of infection (38.3%) with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus acareas (MRSA) as the most common organism. Hypocomplementemia was present in 100% in our study. Hemodialysis (HD) was required in 53.2% of patients and oral steroids were given in 78.7%. Complete renal recovery was seen only in 25.5%, progression to chronic kidney disease in 40.4%, seven patients reached end-stage renal disease, and nine patients died during follow-up. On univariate analysis, MRSA infection, the unidentified source of infection, nonisolation of organisms presence of interstitial fibrosis and tubular atrophy in renal biopsy and requirement of HD were found to be significant risk factors for poor renal outcome. In our study, crescentic form of IRGN is associated with poor renal outcome.