Yücel Güngen

The presence and prognostic importance of glomerular macrophage infiltration in renal allografts

Aim: The purpose of this study was to analyze the role of intraglomerular macrophage infiltration in human renal allografts by examining biopsies from kidney grafts that were dysfunctional after transplantation. Methods: Eighty-three patients (58 men, 25 women) of a mean age of 30.2 ± 1.4 years were evaluated. In all cases, biopsy specimens were examined for the presence of macrophage infiltration in the glomeruli. The infiltration of these cells was evaluated immunohistochemically using monoclonal antibody CD68, which labels macrophage cytoplasm. 10 renal allograft biopsies with normal histopathology were used as control group. The CD68-positive macrophages in all glomeruli were counted and the glomerular macrophage index (GMI) was calculated. Results: Of the 83 patients, 40 showed acute rejection (AR), 33 showed chronic rejection (CR) and 10 showed cyclosporin A (CsA) toxicity. Only the biopsies of 28 patients stained positive for CD68 in the glomeruli. Neither patients with CsA toxicity nor controls showed intraglomerular macrophages. The CD68-positive group consisted of 7/33 CR and 21/40 AR patients. We observed intraglomerular macrophages in only 6 of the 20 AR cases that responded to steroid therapy (mean GMI 0.3 ± 0.1) and in 15 of the 20 steroid-resistant AR cases (mean GMI 1.7 ± 1.2; p < 0.01). The outcome of grafts that contained intraglomerular macrophages was significantly worse than the outcomes of other grafts noticed during the follow-up. Conclusion: We conclude that the presence of glomerular macrophages can be considered a marker for rejection and is a valuable additional criterion of rejection in the histological examination of renal allograft biopsies. The presence of intraglomerular macrophages indicates that the outcome of the graft will be significantly worse than that of grafts without intraglomerular macrophage infiltration.

Choanal polyp originating from the nasal septum: A case report

Almost all nasal polyps originate from the mucosa of the lateral walls of the nasal cavity or from the paranasal sinuses. A choanal polyp is the intranasal portion of a cyst that has arisen from the wall of the maxillary sinus near the ostium. Medially based polyps, such as those that arise from the nasal septum, are rare. The literature cites a wide range of incidence rates for polyps originating from this structure, but choanal extension of this type of polyp is extremely unusual. This report describes a polyp that arose from the superior aspect of the posterior nasal septum and extended through the choana into the nasopharynx. The histology of this choanal lesion was typical of nasal polyps, but the site of origin is rare. The ethiopathogenesis of nasal polyps with its common location remains controversial so it is difficult to speculate what mechanism triggered the development of this lesion on the nasal septum. Some form of local inflammation may have induced choanal polyp formation at this atypical site.

Mucinous cystadenoma mimicking simple renal parenchymal cyst in a horseshoe kidney

Abstract  We report a case of mucinous cystadenoma in a horseshoe kidney which radiologically resembled a simple renal cyst. In the published literature, three cases of mucinous cystadenoma of renal origin have been reported. Although these tumors are believed to originate from the renal pelvis, the cyst in the present case originated from renal parenchyma. The significance of this particular case is the radiological features, which mimick a simple renal parenchymal cyst and contribute to the histopathological definition of an extremely rare disease.

Treatment of steroid-resistant renal allograft rejection with OKT-3 and plasmapheresis

The murine monoclonal antibody (OKT-3) and plasmapheresis therapy were applied in combination to treat acute renal allograft rejection in 31 patients who were not responsive to conventional bolus steroid treatment. Six of them were living related but ABO incompatible; another 25 patients were ABO compatible (1 was from a cadaver, 7 were from living unrelated donors, and 17 were from living related donors). Of these 31 patients, 25 (80.65%) showed perfect improvement in their graft function. These 25 patients had a mean follow-up time of 8 months, and had mean creatinine values of 1.2 mg% (0.8-2.8 mg%). It is concluded that OKT-3 and plasmapheresis combination therapy is very effective in reversing steroid-resistant rejections in high-risk patients such as ABO-incompatible cases.