De novo Donor-specific Anti-human Leukocyte Antigen Antibody and Its Outcome in Pediatric Renal Transplant Recipients: A Single-center Experience in India.

Development of de novo donor-specific anti-HLA antibody (dnDSA) is associated with poor graft survival in adults. However, there is a paucity of data about its prevalence and outcome in Indian children. We retrospectively assessed the proportion and spectrum of dnDSA and its outcome on antibody-mediated rejection (ABMR) and graft function. Children ≤18 years who were transplanted between November 2016 and October 2019 were included in this study. Pretransplant donor-specific antibody (DSA) was screened by complement-dependent cytotoxicity, flow cytometry crossmatch, and single antigen bead (SAB) class I and II by Luminex platform. Either antithymocyte globulin or basiliximab was used as induction. Tacrolimus, mycophenolate, and prednisolone were used for the maintenance of immunosuppression. SAB screening was done at 1, 3, 6 months, and yearly in seven children and at the time of acute graft dysfunction in eight. Mean fluorescence intensity ≥1000 was considered positive. Protocol biopsies were done at 3, 6, and 12 months and annually thereafter in seven children. Fifteen children, all males with a median age (interquartile range) of 13 years (11; 15.5) were analyzed. Only one child had pretransplant DSA who developed dnDSA posttransplant. Overall, 8 (53%) developed dnDSA over a median follow-up of 18 months. Seven (87%) had Class II, one Class I and 3 (37%) both Class I and II. Six had dQ and two had DR. All children with dnDSA had ABMR, of these two had subclinical rejection. DSAs persisted despite treatment, though graft function improved. Children with DSA and ABMR had lower graft function than those without DSA. The proportion of dnDSA was high in our study, majority against DQ. The detection of dnDSA prompted early diagnosis and treatment of ABMR.

COVID-19 in Hemodialysis Patients: Experience from a Western Indian Center.

Introduction: Chronic kidney disease patients on hemodialysis (CKD-5D) are among the worst hit by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Need to travel for dialysis, comorbidities, and immunosuppressive state put them at risk of severe disease and poor outcomes. We report our experience of COVID-19 in a cohort of CKD-5D from a public sector tertiary-care center from western India. Material and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the records of 58 CKD-5D patients with confirmed COVID-19 admitted to our COVID-19 hospital. Suspected COVID-19, acute kidney injury (AKI), or AKI on CKD were excluded. We studied the clinical, demographic, radiological, and laboratory profiles; treatment; and outcomes of the patients. We assessed the potential clinical and laboratory parameters to predict mortality. Results: The mean age of the patients was 48.7 ± 16.9 years, with 55% males. Comorbidities included hypertension (65%), diabetes (19%), and cardiovascular disease (15.5%). The presenting features included fever (69%), respiratory distress (50%), upper respiratory symptoms (36%), and diarrhea (13%). Five (8.6%) were asymptomatic. Bilateral infiltrates on chest imaging were the commonest radiological pattern. The patients were managed with oxygenation, hydroxychloroquine, steroids, anticoagulation, remdesivir, and favipiravir. Twenty-two (37.9%) patients died, predominantly due to respiratory failure. Disease severity and C-reactive protein (CRP) above 175 mg/L at admission were the only parameters predictive of mortality. Conclusion: CKD-5D patients with COVID-19 were less likely to present with the classical syndrome of fever and respiratory distress compared with reports from the general population and had higher mortality. Only disease severity and high CRP (>175 mg/L) were predictive of mortality in our cohort.

Dialysis Vascular Access: Where do Tunneled Catheters Stand? - A Single-Center Experience.

INTRODUCTION: Tunneled cuffed catheters (TCC) provides a short and intermediate-term access solution for dialysis patients who fail to get an arteriovenous fistula (AVF). They are associated with high morbidity and mortality along with high rates of infectious complications. METHODS: We present a single-center prospective cohort of 159 TCCs inserted over one year. Patients were dialyzed in-hospital and in various peripheral dialysis units attached to the institute. The primary endpoint was catheter drop-out. RESULTS: The mean age of patients was 41.8 ± 16.9 years. The right internal jugular vein was the commonest site of TCC insertion (66%). The absence of suitable veins was the predominant reason for TCC insertion. The mean time to catheter drop-out was 134.4 ± 83.3 days (5-399 days). Death with a working catheter was the most common cause of catheter drop-out (22.6%). About 25% of catheters were lost to catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBSI), either alone or as overlap with poor flow. CRBSI rates were 3.74 episodes per 1000 catheter-days. No difference in survival between the staggered tip and split-tip catheters was found. CONCLUSIONS: With the advent of the "hub and spoke" model for dialysis in the public sector healthcare, TCCs are suboptimal with regards to patient and catheter survival, with high infection rates. It must be regarded as a temporary solution and AVF creation should be prioritized.

Non-simultaneous kidney exchange cycles in resource-restricted countries without non-directed donation - a prospective single-center cohort study.

Recent reports suggest that bridge-donor reneging is rare (1.5%) in non-simultaneous kidney exchange chains. However, in developing countries, the non-directed donors who would be needed to initiate chains are unavailable, and furthermore, limited surgical space and resources restrain the feasibility of simultaneous kidney exchange cycles. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the bridge-donor reneging rate during non-simultaneous kidney exchange cycles (NSKEC) in a prospective single-center cohort study (n = 67). We describe the protocol used to prepare co-registered donor-recipient pairs for non-simultaneous surgeries, in an effort to minimize the reneging rate. In addition, in order to protect any recipients who might be left vulnerable by this arrangement, we proposed the use of standard criteria deceased-donor kidneys to rectify the injustice in the event of any bridge-donor reneging. We report 17 successful NSKEC resulting in 67 living-donor kidney transplants (LDKT) using 23 bridge-donors without donor renege and no intervening pairs became unavailable. We propose that NSKEC could increase LDKT, especially for difficult-to-match sensitized pairs (25 of our 67 pairs) in countries with limited transplantation resources. Our study confirms that NSKEC can be safely performed with careful patient-donor selection and non-anonymous kidney exchanges.

Two Decades of Deceased Donor Kidney Transplantation at Ahmedabad, India.

OBJECTIVES: Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Maharashtra, Kerala, Chandigarh, and Karnataka are states in India with active programs for deceased donor kidney transplant. We report our experience of 2 decades of deceased donor kidney transplant at the Institute of Kidney Diseases and Research Center, Dr. H. L. Trivedi Institute of Transplantation Sciences, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This single-center retrospective study comprised data from 831 deceased donor kidney transplant recipients between January 1, 1997 and December 31, 2018. Mean recipient age was 38 ± 14 years; 564 were male, and 267 were female. Mean donor age was 45.3 ± 17.13 years; 565 were men, and 266 were women. RESULTS: Between January 1, 1997 and March 15, 2020, 5838 kidney transplants were completed, including 4895 living donor kidney transplants, 943 deceased donor kidney transplants, and 440 kidney paired donation transplants. Over the mean follow-up time of 8 ± 5.4 years, patient survival rate was 70% (n = 581) and death-censored graft survival rate was 84% (n = 698). Delayed graft function was shown in 210 patients (25%) and biopsy-proven acute rejection rate in 180 patients (21%). Our experience of favorable outcomes with deceased donor kidney transplants has expanded the donor pool in many ways, including transplant from expanded criteria donors to younger recipients; transplant from older donors to older recipients; donation after cardiac death; successful intercity organ procurement; dual-kidney transplant; en bloc transplant from a pediatric deceased donor; and transplant from brain death deceased donors who died from neurotoxic snakebite, recurrent primary brain tumor, bacterial meningitis, or head injury, or with disseminated intravascular coagulation and deranged renal functions. The pathway to increase organ donation was investigated. CONCLUSIONS: Deceased donor kidney transplant can achieve acceptable graft function with patient/graft survival, which may encourage the use of this approach to increase the number of available organs.

Clinical and laboratory profile of renal amyloidosis: A single-center experience.

The kidney is the most common organ involved in systemic amyloidosis. We aimed to study etiology and clinicopathological profile of renal amyloidosis. This was a retrospective study of 40 consecutive adult patients with biopsy-proven renal amyloidosis evaluated over a period of two years. Emphasis was given to describing the clinical presentation, renal function, proteinuria, type of amyloidosis, and its etiology. Mean age of the study cohort was 44 ± 15 years (with a male-to-female ratio of 3:1). Amyloid A (AA) amyloidosis was the most common type of amyloidosis observed in 72.5% of cases. Amyloid light chain (AL) amyloidosis accounted for 17.5% of cases, and the rest remained undetermined. AA amyloidosis had widespread age distribution while AL amyloidosis was confined to those >40 years. Proteinuria was the most common renal manifestation observed in all patients. Nephrotic syndrome was seen in 70% of patients. Mean 24 h proteinuria was 6.4 g. Renal failure was the second most common manifestation seen in 70% of patients, of whom 21.4% required hemodialysis. Tuberculosis (TB) accounted for 90% cases of AA amyloidosis. The most prevalent form was pulmonary TB while the rest accounted for by rheumatoid arthritis and bronchiectasis. Among patients with TB induced amyloidosis, 61.5% had received adequate treatment for TB in the past. All patients with AL amyloidosis had nephrotic range proteinuria, five had renal failure out of which two required dialysis. Cardiac involvement was seen in two patients. AA amyloidosis was the most common type of renal amyloidosis in the present study and pulmonary TB was the most common etiology.

Kidney exchange transplantation current status, an update and future perspectives.

Kidney exchange transplantation is well established modality to increase living donor kidney transplantation. Reasons for joining kidney exchange programs are ABO blood group incompatibility, immunological incompatibility (positive cross match or donor specific antibody), human leukocyte antigen (HLA) incompatibility (poor HLA matching), chronological incompatibility and financial incompatibility. Kidney exchange transplantation has evolved from the traditional simultaneous anonymous 2-way kidney exchange to more complex ways such as 3-way exchange, 4-way exchange, n-way exchange,compatible pair, non-simultaneous kidney exchange,non-simultaneous extended altruistic donor, never ending altruistic donor, kidney exchange combined with desensitization, kidney exchange combined with ABO incompatible kidney transplantation, acceptable mismatch transplant, use of A2 donor to O patients, living donor-deceased donor list exchange, domino chain, non-anonymous kidney exchange, single center, multicenter, regional, National, International and Global kidney exchange. Here we discuss recent advances in kidney exchanges such as International kidney exchange transplantation in a global environment, three categories of advanced donation program, deceased donors as a source of chain initiating kidneys, donor renege myth or reality, pros and cons of anonymity in developed world and (non-) anonymity in developing world, pros and cons of donor travel vs kidney transport, algorithm for management of incompatible donor-recipient pairs and pros and cons of Global kidney exchange. The participating transplant teams and donor-recipient pairs should make the decision by consensus about kidney donor travel vs kidney transport and anonymity vs non-anonymity in allocation as per local resources and logistics. Future of organ transplantation in resource-limited setting will be liver vs kidney exchange, a legitimate hope or utopia?

Four-Way Kidney Exchange Transplant With Desensitization Increases Access to Living-Donor Kidney Transplant: First Report From India.

OBJECTIVES: This study reports our experience of the first 4-way kidney exchange transplant combined with desensitization in India, which allows increased access to living-donor kidney transplant for sensitized patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Four-way kidney exchange transplant procedures were approved by the ethics committee of our institution and the Organ Transplantation Authorization Committee of state governments of India (as per the Transplantation of Human Organs Act of India). The protocols conformed to Declaration of Istanbul principles and the ethical guidelines of the 1975 Helsinki Declaration. Written informed consent was obtained from patients, donors, and their guardians. RESULTS: In April 2016, our transplant team completed simultaneous 4-way kidney exchange transplant procedures without any medical (rejection and infections) or surgical complications. Reasons for being included for kidney exchange transplant were ABO incom-patible (2 recipients) and sensitization (2 recipients). All 4 recipients had stable graft function with no proteinuria and donor-specific antibody at 11-month follow-up on standard triple immunosup-pression. Patient and graft survival rates were both 100%. CONCLUSIONS: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first single-center report of 4-way kidney exchange transplant combined with desensitization from India. This procedure has the potential to expand living-donor kidney transplant in disadvantaged groups (eg, sensitized patients). Recipients who are hard to match due to high panel reactive antibody and difficult to desensitize due to strong donor-specific antibodies can receive a transplant with a combination of kidney exchange and desensitization. Our study suggests that 4-way kidney exchange transplant can be performed in developing countries (India) similar to that shown in programs in developed countries with team work, kidney exchange registry, and counseling.

Seventy-seven kidney paired donation transplantations at a single transplant centre in India led to an increase in living donor kidney transplantations in 2015.

BACKGROUND: To ascertain the validity of kidney paired donations (KPDs) as an alternative strategy for increasing living donor kidney transplantations (LDKTs) in an LDKT-dominated transplant programme since directed kidney transplantation, ABO-incompatible or crossmatch-positive pairs are not feasible due to costs and infectious complications. METHODS: This was a prospective single-centre study of 77 KPD transplantations (25 two-way, 7 three-way and 1 six-way exchange) from 1 January 2015 to 1 January 2016 of 158 registered donor recipient pairs. During this period, a total of 380 kidney transplantations [71 deceased donor kidney transplantations (DDKTs), 309 LDKTs] were performed. The reasons for opting for KPD were ABO incompatibility (n = 45), sensitization (n = 26) and better matching (n = 6). RESULTS: KPD matching was facilitated in 62% (n = 98) of transplants. In all, 48.7% (n = 77) of the transplants were completed in 2015, whereas 13.3% (n = 21) of the matched patients were to undergo transplant surgery in early 2016 after getting legal permission. The waiting time for KPD was shorter compared with DDKT. The death-censored graft survival and patient survival were 98.7% (n = 76) and 93.5% (n = 72), respectively. In all, 14.2% (n = 11) of patients had acute rejection. Match rates among sensitized (n = 60) and O group patients (n = 62) were 58.3% (n = 35) and 41.9% (n = 26), respectively. Of these, 43.3% (n = 26) and 29% (n = 18) of transplants were completed and 15% (n = 9) and 12.9% (n = 8), respectively, are waiting for legal permission. CONCLUSIONS: LDKT increased by 25% in 1 year in our single-centre KPD programme. Our key to success was the formation of a KPD registry, awareness and active counselling programs and developing a dedicated team.

Past, present and future of kidney paired donation transplantation in India.

One third of healthy willing living kidney donors are rejected due to ABO blood group incompatibility and donor specific antibody. This increases pre-transplant dialysis duration leading to increased morbidity and mortality on the kidney transplantation waiting list. Over the last decade kidney paired donation is most rapidly increased source of living kidney donors. In a kidney transplantation program dominated by living donor kidney transplantation, kidney paired donation is a legal and valid alternative strategy to increase living donor kidney transplantation. This is more useful in countries with limited resources where ABO incompatible kidney transplantation or desensitization protocol is not feasible because of costs/infectious complications and deceased donor kidney transplantation is in initial stages. The matching allocation, ABO blood type imbalance, reciprocity, simultaneity, geography were the limitation for the expansion of kidney paired donation. Here we describe different successful ways to increase living donor kidney transplantation through kidney paired donation. Compatible pairs, domino chain, combination of kidney paired donation with desensitization or ABO incompatible transplantation, international kidney paired donation, non-simultaneous, extended, altruistic donor chain and list exchange are different ways to expand the donor pool. In absence of national kidney paired donation program, a dedicated kidney paired donation team will increase access to living donor kidney transplantation in individual centres with team work. Use of social networking sites to expand donor pool, HLA based national kidney paired donation program will increase quality and quantity of kidney paired donation transplantation. Transplant centres should remove the barriers to a broader implementation of multicentre, national kidney paired donation program to further optimize potential of kidney paired donation to increase transplantation of O group and sensitized patients. This review assists in the development of similar programs in other developing countries.

An unusual presentation of LCAT deficiency as nephrotic syndrome with normal serum HDL-C level.

Clinical and biochemical manifestations of lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) deficiency include an abnormal lipid profile (characterized by hypercholesterolemia with markedly decreased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol [HDL-C] and hypertriglyceridemia), corneal opacities, hematologic abnormalities (normochromic anemia of varying intensity), splenomegaly, variable early coronary artery disease and nephropathy (initially proteinuria followed by progressive deterioration of renal function). We presented a patient with nephrotic syndrome, which renal biopsy revealed classic features of LCAT deficiency. To our knowledge, the present case is the first reported case of LCAT deficiency presenting with symptoms related to nephrotic syndrome in a patient with no obvious family history without any corneal deposits and normal HDL-C levels.

International kidney paired donation transplantations to increase kidney transplant of O group and highly sensitized patient: First report from India.

AIM: To report the first international living related two way kidney paired donation (KPD) transplantation from India which occurred on 17th February 2015 after legal permission from authorization committee. METHODS: Donor recipient pairs were from Portugal and India who were highly sensitized and ABO incompatible with their spouse respectively. The two donor recipient pairs had negative lymphocyte cross-matching, flow cross-match and donor specific antibody in two way kidney exchange with the intended KPD donor. Local KPD options were fully explored for Indian patient prior to embarking on international KPD. RESULTS: Both pairs underwent simultaneous uneventful kidney transplant surgeries and creatinine was 1 mg/dL on tacrolimus based immunosuppression at 11 mo follow up. The uniqueness of these transplantations was that they are first international KPD transplantations in our center. CONCLUSION: International KPD will increases quality and quantity of living donor kidney transplantation. This could be an important step to solving the kidney shortage with additional benefit of reduced costs, improved quality and increased access for difficult to match incompatible pairs like O blood group patient with non-O donor and sensitized patient. To the best of our knowledge this is first international KPD transplantation from India.

Impact of single centre kidney paired donation transplantation to increase donor pool in India: a cohort study.

In a living donor kidney transplantation (LDKT) dominated transplant programme, kidney paired donation (KPD) may be a cost-effective and valid alternative strategy to increase LDKT in countries with limited resources where deceased donation kidney transplantation (DDKT) is in the initial stages. Here, we report our experience of 300 single-centre KPD transplantations to increase LDKT in India. Between January 2000 and July 2016, 3616 LDKT and 561 DDKT were performed at our transplantation centre, 300 (8.3%) using KPD. The reasons for joining KPD among transplanted patients were ABO incompatibility (n = 222), positive cross-match (n = 59) and better matching (n = 19). A total of 124 two-way (n = 248), 14 three-way (n = 42), one four-way (n = 4) and one six-way exchange (n = 6) yielded 300 KPD transplants. Death-censored graft and patient survival were 96% (n = 288) and 83.3% (n = 250), respectively. The mean serum creatinine was 1.3 mg/dl at a follow-up of 3 ± 3 years. We credit the success of our KPD programme to maintaining a registry of incompatible pairs, counselling on KPD, a high-volume LDKT programme and teamwork. KPD is legal, cost effective and rapidly growing for facilitating LDKT with incompatible donors. This study provides large-scale evidence for the expansion of single-centre LDKT via KPD when national programmes do not exist.

Six end-stage renal disease patients benefited from first non-simultaneous single center 6-way kidney exchange transplantation in India.

AIM: To avoid desensitization protocols and ABO incompatible kidney transplantation (KT) due to high costs and increased risk of infections from intense immunosuppression. METHODS: We present institutional ethical review board - approved study of single center 6-way kidney exchange transplantation. The participants comprised ABO incompatibility (n = 1); positive cross-match and/or presence of donor specific antibody (n = 5). The average time required from registration in kidney paired donation (KPD) registry to find suitable donors was 45 d and time required to perform transplants after legal permission was 2 mo. RESULTS: Graft and patient survival were 100%, and 100%, respectively. One patient had biopsy-proven acute borderline T cell rejection (Banff update 2013, type 3). Mean serum creatinine was 0.8 mg/dL at 9 mo follow-up. The waiting time in KPD was short as compared to deceased donor KT. CONCLUSION: We report first non-simultaneous, single center, 6-way kidney exchange transplantation from India. Our experience will encourage other centers in India to undertake this practice.

Increasing access to kidney transplantation for sensitized recipient through three-way kidney paired donation with desensitization: The first Indian report.

The combination of kidney paired donation (KPD) with desensitization represents a promising method of increasing the rate of living donor kidney transplantation (LDKT) in immunologically challenging patients. Patients who are difficult to match and desensitize due to strong donor specific antibody are may be transplanted by a combination of desensitization and KPD protocol with more immunologically favorable donor. We present our experience of combination of desensitization protocol with three-way KPD which contributed to successful LDKT in highly sensitized end stage renal disease patient. All recipients were discharged with normal and stable allograft function at 24 mo follow up. We believe that this is first report from India where three-way KPD exchange was performed with the combination of KPD and desensitization. The combination of desensitization protocol with KPD improves access and outcomes of LDKT.

An unusual cause of renal failure; Epstein syndrome.

Epstein syndrome constitutes macrothrombocytopenia without neutrophil inclusion bodies along with deafness and renal failure. A diagnosis of Epstein syndrome was made in a 17 year-old-male patient with macrothrombopathic thrombocytopenia, renal failure and sensorineural hearing loss. Our patient is unique as he presented with rapidly progressive renal failure and developed chronic kidney disease in second decade of life with no symptomatic hearing loss or bleeding tendency. Epstein syndrome needs to be differentiated from Alport syndrome which is more common disease with similar clinical presentation.

Clinical profile of kidney involvement preceding diagnosis of multiple myeloma; a single center experience.

Introduction: The kidneys are involved in significant number of patients with multiple myeloma (MM) who can present with acute or chronic renal failure, nephritic syndrome, non-nephrotic proteinuria or tubular function defects. Objectives: To assess the clinical profile of kidney involvement preceding diagnosis of multiple myeloma Patients and Methods: Renal involvement in 29 cases with MM admitted over an 18-month period to our tertiary care center was retrospectively examined. Diagnosis of MM was confirmed by two or more of the following four features: lytic bone lesions, serum or urine monoclonal peak, Bence-Jones proteinuria, and greater than 20% plasma cells in bone marrow. Results: Renal disease was present in all patients before MM was diagnosed. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) was the most common precipitating factor for acute kidney injury (AKI). All 29 patients received combination chemotherapy of bortezomib, dexamethasone and thalidomide. More than half of the total number of patients did not complete chemotherapy because of death or lost to follow-up. Twenty-two of 29 patients required hemodialysis support. AKI was the most common renal presentation of MM. Four patients with AKI had complete renal recovery. Eleven patients who required hemodialysis support initially later on recovered to non-dialyzable range of renal failure. Seven patients became hemodialysis dependent. Twelve patients died from infection, uremia or hyperkalemia. Nine patients lost to follow up. Remission of MM was seen in 8 patients who completed chemotherapy. Conclusion: In our study AKI is the most common renal presentation preceding the diagnosis of MM. Reversal of renal function was achieved with chemotherapy and high flux hemodialysis in few cases.

Manifestation of paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria as repeated acute kidney injury.

The triad of hemolytic anemia, pancytopenia, and thrombosis makes paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) a truly unique clinical syndrome. Intravascular hemolysis in PNH can lead to a severe hemolytic episode with massive hemoglobinuria which can cause acute kidney injury (AKI) probably from acute tubular necrosis (ATN). A 15 -year-old girl was admitted with history of fever, diarrhea, vomiting followed by decreased urine output since 3 days. Urinalysis showed nil protein, no red blood cells (RBCs) on microscopy. Plasma hemoglobin level, total leukocyte count, platelet count, and serum creatinine were 6.5 gm/dl, 6440/µl, 205 000/µl, and 3.1 mg/dl, respectively. She received 3 units of packed red blood cells and the patient was discharged with normal renal function test with a diagnosis of acute gastroenteritis with recovered AKI. After 8 months she again had fever, vomiting, nausea with decreased urine output since 3 days. Laboratory investigations showed hemoglobin - 5.5 gm/dl, total leukocyte count - 1550/ µl, platelet count - 165000/µl, and serum creatinine - 4.89 mg/dl. Serum LDH level was 2188 U/l. She was managed conservatively with steroids, antibiotics and she recovered her kidney functions to normal in a week. Presentation of repeated AKI with hemolytic anemia in a short span after fever led us to perform flow cytometric analysis of peripheral blood granulocytes which revealed the presence of PNH clone. PNH may present with renal disease and anemia only even without classical history of hematuria or venous thrombosis. Thus it needs high index of suspicion as early diagnosis and treatment will help in preventing repeated episodes of AKI and thus chronic kidney disease.

Hepatitis B viremia manifesting as polyarteritis nodosa and secondary membranous nephropathy.

Renal involvement in hepatitis B-polyarteritis nodosa (HBV-PAN) usually occurs in the form of hypertension, microscopic hematuria, proteinuria but nephrotic range proteinuria or renal failure is very uncommon. A 60-year-old man had abdominal pain for 15 days which was followed by bilateral pedal edema in a day and in next three days he had sudden onset bilateral foot drop with numbness. He had weight loss of 10 kg in last 20 days. Pedal edema was pitting, bilateral. Macular skin rashes around both ankles were present. Serum creatinine was 2.4 mg/dl and blood urea nitrogen was 102 mg/dl.24 hour proteinuria was 3.4 g/day. Serum HBsAg, HBeAg and anti-HBc IgM were positive. Serum HBV-DNA level (PCR) was 582917 copies/ml. The nerve conduction study showed axonal and demyelinating polyneuropathy in bilateral lower limbs. A kidney biopsy revealed membranous nephropathy (MN). Doppler for renal vessels was normal. Prednisolone (60 mg/day), plasmapheresis (5 courses) and entecavir (0.5 mg/ every second day) were started. At 2 months follow up, patient improved in the form of grade 3/5 power in both lower limbs with sensory improvement. Twenty-four hours proteinuria decreased to 800 mg/day and serum creatinine reached to 1.5 mg/dl. Polyarteritis nodosa was due to HBV infection, but the etiology of MN was uncertain, as it has rarely been described in PAN. Proteinuria responded to nucleoside analogue therapy. So patient was considered to have an association of classic PAN and MN, both related to HBV. Patient responded to combined treatment of steroid, plasmapheresis and nucleoside analogue.