Pattern of renal amyloidosis in South Africa
Date
2019
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
BMC (part of Springer Nature)
Abstract
Background: Kidney disease is a serious manifestation of systemic amyloidosis and a major cause of morbidity and
mortality. Tuberculosis (TB) occurs up to 27 times more commonly in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected
patients and is also an important cause of renal amyloid; there are however no reports of renal amyloidosis in
South Africa in the HIV era.
Methods: This was a retrospective record review of cases of amyloidosis diagnosed on renal biopsies at our tertiary
referral hospital between January 1985 and December 2016.
Results: Forty-six cases of amyloidosis were identified over the study period. The calculated biopsy prevalence was
1.38 per 100 non-transplant renal biopsies (95% Confidence Interval 1.02–1.86). AL amyloidosis was identified in 26
(57%) cases and AA in 20 (43%). The median age at presentation was 51 years and 52% of cases were female.
Patients with AA amyloidosis were significantly younger compared to their AL counterparts (age 42 years vs. 58
years, p = < 0.001) and were all significantly non-white. The main clinical presentation was nephrotic syndrome
(85%) and 52% of cases also had a serum creatinine value of greater than 120 μmol/L. Of the 20 cases of AA
amyloidosis, 12 (60%) were associated with tuberculosis. HIV infection was noted in only two (10%) of the 20 AA
cases. Median survival after diagnosis was 2 months.
Conclusion: Amyloidosis is a rare cause of kidney disease and typically presents with nephrotic syndrome. A similar
number of AA and AL types were observed, and outcomes are worse in cases of AA amyloid. While TB remains the
major underlying disease in this type, HIV infection was infrequent in cases of AA renal amyloidosis.
Description
CITATION: Hassen, M., Bates, W. & Moosa, M. R. 2019. Pattern of renal amyloidosis in South Africa. BMC Nephrology, 20:406, doi:10.1186/s12882-019-1601-x.
The original publication is available at https://bmcnephrol.biomedcentral.com
Publication of this article was funded by the Stellenbosch University Open Access Fund
The original publication is available at https://bmcnephrol.biomedcentral.com
Publication of this article was funded by the Stellenbosch University Open Access Fund
Keywords
Amyloidosis, Tuberculosis, Chronic kidney disease
Citation
Hassen, M., Bates, W. & Moosa, M. R. 2019. Pattern of renal amyloidosis in South Africa. BMC Nephrology, 20:406, doi:10.1186/s12882-019-1601-x