Tumoral calcinosis due to severe hyperphosphatemia and secondary hyperparathyroidism without vascular calcification in a hemodialysis patient.

We report a case of a 32-year-old man who was undergoing chronic hemodialysis and had hyperphosphatemia and secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT) with multiple tumoral calcinosis (TC) lesions refractory to drug therapy. Total parathyroidectomy and autotransplantation were performed, and he recovered from TC within 3 months. Several soft-tissue calcifications were present, but neither computed tomography (CT) before diagnosis nor CT performed 12 months after surgery detected evidence of vascular calcification (VC), despite persistence of hyperphosphatemia. This patient had a high calcium (Ca) × phosphate (P) product and calciprotein particles, and high serum Ca and P levels are important risk factors for both TC and VC. P plays a crucial role in regulation of VC, but the absence of VC in our case suggests a specific circumstance in which VC does not progress even under a high phosphatemic state, and that P alone may be insufficient for VC progression. TC in our patient was probably due to severe SHPT and continuous high serum P and Ca × P product levels, but the absence of VC suggests that the pathophysiologic process leading to VC requires further investigation, particularly in chronic kidney disease.

Lower soluble Klotho levels in the pretransplant period are associated with an increased risk of renal function decline in renal transplant patients.

Serum soluble Klotho levels are associated with renal function in predialysis patients with chronic kidney disease. However, few reports exist regarding the association between soluble Klotho levels and renal function in kidney transplant (KTx) recipients. This was a retrospective observational study of 41 living KTx recipients. The serum soluble Klotho levels were classed as "high" (>456 pg/mL [i.e., high-Klotho group]) or "low" (≤456 pg/mL [i.e., low-Klotho group]). Renal function decline was defined as a decrease in the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) of 30% or more from the baseline value within 3 months after KTx. A multivariable time-to-event analysis between the groups was conducted. Among the KTx recipients, the incidence of a 30% decrease in the eGFR was significantly higher in the low-Klotho group than in the high-Klotho group (P = .036). After adjusting for donor age, donor sex, the presence of rejection, and the number of cytomegalovirus infections, multivariable Cox models revealed that low soluble Klotho levels remained associated with a higher risk of a 30% decrease in the eGFR (hazard ratio, 2.38; 95% confidence interval, 1.02-6.41). These findings suggested that lower soluble Klotho levels in the pre-KTx period are associated with an increased risk of renal function decline in KTx recipients.

Proteomics of human glomerulonephritis by laser microdissection and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

AIM: Laser microdissection (LMD) and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) enable clinicians to analyse proteins from tissue sections. In nephrology, these methods are used to diagnose diseases of abnormal protein deposition, such as amyloidosis, but they are seldom applied to the diagnosis and pathophysiological understanding of human glomerular diseases. METHODS: Renal biopsy specimens were obtained from five patients with IgA nephropathy (IgAN), five patients with membranous nephropathy (MN) and five kidney transplant donors (as controls). From 10-µm-thick sections of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded specimens, 0.3-mm2 samples of glomerular tissue were subjected to LMD. The samples were analysed by LC-MS/MS and investigated clinically and histologically. RESULTS: From the control glomeruli, we identified more than 300 types of proteins. In patients with IgAN, we detected significant increases not only in IgA1 and in C3, but also in the factors related to oxidative stress and cell proliferation in comparison to the controls. In patients with MN, levels of IgG1, IgG4, C3, C4a and phospholipase-A2-receptor were significantly elevated in comparison to the controls, as were the aforementioned factors related to oxidative stress and cell proliferations detected in IgAN. CONCLUSION: Application of LMD and LC-MS/MS to renal biopsy specimens enabled us to identify not only pathognomonic proteins for the diagnosis, but also several factors possibly involved in the pathogenesis of human glomerular diseases.

One-stage laparoscopy-assisted colectomy for synchronous double colorectal cancers.

Synchronous multiple malignant colorectal lesions are rare, and there have been very few studies about one-stage laparoscopic operations in these cases. Here, we evaluated the short-term outcomes of laparoscopy-assisted colectomy (LAC) for synchronous double colorectal cancers. Seven patients underwent one-stage LAC that required two resections and anastomoses in our hospital from 2010 to 2014. We retrospectively examined each patient's background and subsequent surgical outcomes. The median age of patients was 78 years, and the median BMI was 19.8 kg/m2 . The median operative time was 190 min, and blood loss was minimal. All resected specimens were extracted through a transumbilical incision. A radical operation was performed safely without procedural accidents or postoperative complications in all cases. The median postoperative hospital stay was 12.5 days. One-stage LAC is considered a safe and viable procedure for resecting synchronous double colorectal cancers. It involves minimal invasiveness and is similar to standard LAC.

Granulomatous interstitial nephritis in a renal allograft.

We describe a middle-aged woman in whom granulomatous interstitial nephritis (GIN) developed in a renal allograft. She had undergone bowel resection due to an uncertain diagnosis of active granulomatous bowel disease 30 years earlier. Thereafter, frequent hyperoxaluria as well as calcium oxalate stone and recurrent urinary tract infections had resulted in a progressive deterioration in kidney function over a period of 20 years. She underwent living donor kidney transplantation; however, her kidney function progressively deteriorated, despite transplantation. A biopsy of the renal allograft revealed GIN with granulomatous vasculitis accompanied by calcium oxalate crystals. These as well as the laboratory findings indicated a diagnosis of sarcoidosis. We considered that the aggravated granulomatous inflammation on the allograft was caused by recurrent sarcoidosis accompanied by hyperoxaluria.

A fulminant case of renal vein thrombosis in a patient with autoimmune disorder and membranous nephropathy.

A previously healthy middle-aged woman noted a rapid onset of flank pain with gross hematuria. Enhanced CT scan showed thrombosis of the inferior vena cava and right renal vein. Laboratory findings revealed nephrotic proteinuria, Sjogren's syndrome (SjS), and Graves' disease (GD). A right nephrectomy was performed because of progressive and refractory renal necrosis. Renal specimens showed venous infarction with diffuse hemorrhagic and severe congestive renal necrosis, and membranous nephropathy (MN). The present case was diagnosed as acute renal necrosis due to catastrophic thrombosis in a patient with SjS, GD, and MN. It was thought that sudden development of thrombosis may have been caused by the status of the autoimmune disorders, and the associated MN.