Renal Lesions and Clinical Findings in Thalassemia Major and other Chronic Anemias with Hemosiderosis

Renal lesions found in 21 autopsied patients with hemosiderosis, 18 with beta-thalassemia, two with Blackfan-Diamond anemia, and one with aplastic anemia included: cellular glomeruli with increased mesangial matrix; hemosiderin deposit in visceral and parietal glomerular epithelial cells; greater hemosiderin deposit in terminal straight portions of proximal convoluted tubules and distal convoluted tubules than in connecting segments, or collecting tubules; connective tissue ferrugination; lipofuscin in tubular epithelium and vascular smooth muscle; infrequently, intimal or medial arterial thickening, and, in one patient with thalassemia, an infarct resulting from arterial thrombus. The progression of these lesions over the course of disease, and possible effects on the various lesions of high transfusion regimen, oral pancreatin, vitamin E supplementation, or treatment with intramuscular, subcutaneous, or intravenous desferoxamine were evaluated. The results of urine and renal function studies of 4 of the autopsied patients (3 thalassemia, 1 Blackfan-Diamond anemia), and 14 patients with thalassemia and 4 with Blackfan-Diamond anemia who were not autopsied, are presented. Rarely significant until preterminal stages, the renal functional changes reflect distal more than proximal tubule dysfunction.     

Microdissection Study of the Myentric Plexus in Acardia, Ataxia-telangiectasia, Cystic Fibrosis, Extrahepatic Biliary Atresia, Pediatric Aids and Werdnig-Hoffmann Disease

Microdissection-point count morphometric study of the myenteric (Auerbach) plexus or esophagus, small intestine, and colon was done for infants and children with acardia (2), ataxia-telangiectasia (5), cystic fibrosis of the pancreas (CFP) (25), extrahepatic biliary atresia (EBA) (17), pediatric AIDS (10), and Werdnig-Hoffmann disease (WHD) (8). Values for fractional area of neural tissue in the plane of the plexus were compared to those of control patients in same age range as those in each disease category by t-test. Statistically abnormal values included low values for small intestine and colon in Werdnig-Hoffmann disease, high values for small intestine and colon in biliary atresia, and high value for colon but a low value for small intestine in cystic fibrosis. Values for all three loci were within the normal range for ataxia telangiectasia and pediatric AIDS. The mechanisms of the low value for small and large intestines in WHD, which causes chronic constipation as a result of skeletal muscle weakness, and of the high values for colon in CFP and EBA, both causing malabsorption with bulky stools, are unclear. The value for small intestine in acardia was normal for term but lower than expected for fetal bowel of the same size, possibly because of reduced neural crest inflow to the fetal bowel.     

Lupus nephritis: prognostic factors in children.

As newer treatment modalities become available for patients with severe lupus nephritis, it becomes increasingly important to identify patients at risk for renal failure. In this study, the records of 90 children presenting with systemic lupus erythematosus over a 13-year period were reviewed. Nineteen were lost to follow-up prior to completion of the study. Of the 71 remaining children, 16 (22%) progressed to chronic renal failure. Persistent hypertension lasting greater than 4 months, anemia, abnormalities of the urinalysis, and elevated serum creatinine level were significantly associated with progression to renal failure. Sex, race, age, abnormalities of creatinine clearance, and 24-hour urine protein collection were not associated with progression to renal failure. Renal biopsies were obtained in 45 children. Biopsies were initially classified according to World Health Organization criteria. Diffuse proliferative glomerulonephritis was significantly associated with progression to renal failure. The 45 biopsies available were reviewed by one of the authors and categorized by activity and chronicity indices. Both the active lesions of fibrinoid necrosis, synechiae, tubular casts, and vasculitic lesions and the chronic lesion of glomerular sclerosis correlated with progression to renal failure. Of the 16 children who progressed to renal failure, 2 had cadaver kidney transplants and are well 5 years posttransplant; 4 had fulminant lupus and died within 1 month of commencing dialysis; 10 began chronic dialysis. Five of the 10 children on chronic dialysis died from sepsis. These data suggest that children with systemic lupus erythematosus who undergo dialysis do poorly.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Time course of the intrahepatic lesion of extrahepatic biliary atresia: a morphometric study

The time course of the intrahepatic lesions of untreated extrahepatic biliary atresia was evaluated by morphometric analysis of 49 specimens from 27 patients. The data show an early phase of rapid bile ductular proliferation, with peak in this material at 205 days, followed by rapid duct regression to approximately 400 days, and slower progressive intrahepatic duct loss thereafter. The ratio of ducts to connective tissue in portal tracts follows a similar course. Connective tissue in portal tracts rises on a slower course and continues to increase after maximum duct regression is reached, so the ratio of parenchyma to fibrous septa falls over the later course of the process. Although duct and connective tissue proliferation in hepatic portal tracts is associated in many liver diseases, the data of this study demonstrate dissociability of the relationships, with the fibrosis in the later stages of the intrahepatic process in extrahepatic biliary atresia apparently neither responsive to nor inducing biliary ductular proliferation.     

Association of common origin of the carotid arteries with anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery

Common origin of the carotid arteries (COCA) is a common pattern of aortic arch vessels and is the single most common cause of tracheobronchial compression by a congenital cardiovascular anomaly. By no means all affected patients are symptomatic. Symptoms may range from recurrent pulmonary infections and "noisy respiration" to stridor and apneic spells. In our study of patients with anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery (ALCAPA) we found a highly significant association of COCA with ALCAPA (85%), although no patient with ALCAPA in this study had evidence of tracheal stenosis documented in the hospital chart. As COCA is easily correctable, we suggest consideration of COCA during evaluation and surgery of patients with ALCAPA so that, if the patient also has symptoms possibly related to COCA, the artery can be suspended from the posterior wall of the sternum.