Acute renal failure in a patient with hemophagocytic syndrome

Acute renal failure (ARF) occurred in a 47-year-old man with hemophagocytic syndrome. Histological findings of the kidney revealed diffuse infiltration of interstitium by phagocytosing cells mixed with atypical lymphoid cells of varying size. The cytological features of the lymphoid population in liver and spleen were consistent with a diagnosis of peripheral T-cell lymphoma. We believe that this ARF could have been exacerbated by the interstitial infiltration of phagocytosing cells, reactive lymphoid cells, and T-cell lymphoma cells. Received: September 25, 1998 / Accepted: July 22, 1999