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Abstract
Background
Few contemporary studies have evaluated the clinical characteristics of patients with biopsy-proven glomerulopathy diagnosed with renal vein thrombosis (RVT).
Methods
Retrospective case series study within an integrated health system in a 12-year period (January 1, 2000 through December 31, 2011) investigating clinical characteristics of all adult patients who underwent native or transplant kidney biopsy and also had a diagnosis of RVT. Patient characteristics, diagnostic studies, and outcomes were evaluated.
Results
Among 3763 eligible patients, 17 had imaging confirmed RVT. Of these, 15 had membranous nephropathy (idiopathic or secondary to autoimmune disease). Although the biopsy population included primary and secondary glomerular disease patients, all 17 RVT patients had severe nephrotic syndrome and profound hypoalbuminemia with mean (SD) of albumin: 1.5 g/dL (0.66).
Conclusion
Clinically significant RVT in patients with glomerulopathy appears to be a rather rare entity, occurring predominantly in patients with severe nephrotic syndrome due to idiopathic membranous nephropathy and membranous nephropathy secondary to autoimmune disease.