Abstract

There have been a few reports suggesting that the imune response to pulmonary tuberculosis provides the appropriate setting for the development of IgA nephropathy (IgAN). To define better the relation between pulmonary tuberculosis and IgAN, we evaluated the prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis among 386 Korean patients with IgAN. Seventeen cases (4.4%) showed abnormal chest X-ray findings suggestive of pulmonary tuberculosis. Ten patients were male and seven were female. Only one case was a child. Urinary abnormalities were detected during the course of antituberculous medication in 11 patients, and after completion of chemotherapy in 2. Chest abnormalities were noted in the remaining 4 patient after IgAN had been diagnosed. Clinical diagnosis of tuberculosis was made mainly based on the chest X-ray findings, but sputum Acid-Fast Bacilli were detected in one patient and pulmonary granulomo was noted in 2. The patients presented various clinical manifestations such as gross hematuris (5 cases), nephrotic syndrome (5 cases), asymptomatic urinary abnormalities (4 cases) and pyuris (1 case) at time of biopsy. Histologic grading of the glomerular lesions was made with modified Meadow classification (1972): one had grade I lesion, 8 grade II, 5 GRADE III and 3 showed grade IV. Follow-up studies were made in 7 patients. Six showed resolution of urinary abnormalities after completion f antituberculous medication, while one pursued chronic renal failure 20 days after the onset. The above clinical and morphologic features suggest that pulmonary tuberculosis may be partly related to the occurrence of IgAN in some Korean patients.

• Keywords: IgA nephropathy;Pulmonary tuberculosis;