Skip Navigation


NDT Advance Access originally published online on April 21, 2006
Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation 2006 21(7):1749-1752; doi:10.1093/ndt/gfl159
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
21/7/1749    most recent
gfl159v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Bihl, G. R.
Right arrow Articles by Fine, D. M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Bihl, G. R.
Right arrow Articles by Fine, D. M.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author [2006]. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of ERA-EDTA. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Editorial Comment

Kidney biopsy in lupus nephritis: look before you leap

Geoffrey R. Bihl1, Michelle Petri2 and Derek M. Fine2

1 Nephrologist and Clinical Director, Winelands Kidney and Dialysis Center, Somerset West, South Africa and 2 Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

Correspondence and offprint requests to: Geoffrey R. Bihl, PO Box 4036, Somerset West 7129, South Africa. Email: gkbihl@icon.co.za

Keywords: specific diagnosis; focal glomerular pathology; treatment recommendation; safety

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.



   Introduction
 
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multisystem autoimmune disease primarily affecting women of reproductive age. There is a particular pre-disposition to develop SLE in those of African descent, including a growing incidence in sub-Saharan Africa [1,2]. When compared with white patients, a more aggressive course of disease and poorer outcomes are noted. Such effects are also seen with lupus kidney disease, which is also more common in black patients [3]. Indeed, during the course of their disease, the kidney is a major target organ in up to 60% of patients with SLE, with 25–50% presenting with kidney involvement already at the time of lupus diagnosis. The presentation of lupus nephritis is highly variable, ranging from mild asymptomatic proteinuria to rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis with haematuria and red cell casts. Features invariably include some degree of glomerular proteinuria—nephrotic in 45–65% of the cases.

Several studies have . . . [Full Text of this Article]



   Questions to be answered by kidney biopsy
 
Does the patient indeed have lupus nephritis?
What type of glomerular histopathology is present?
What are the implications of the histopathology for differential therapy?


   Safety of kidney biopsy
 


   Conclusion
 

Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Nephrol Dial TransplantHome page
G. M. N. Daleboudt, I. M. Bajema, N. N. T. Goemaere, J. M. van Laar, J. A. Bruijn, and S. P. Berger
The clinical relevance of a repeat biopsy in lupus nephritis flares
Nephrol. Dial. Transplant., December 1, 2009; 24(12): 3712 - 3717.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]