pathology Flashcards
what is nephritis?
inflammation of the kidney
what is pyelonephritis?
infective nephritis
what is glomerulonephritis?
non infective nephritis
what is glemoreulonephritis?
inflammation of the glomerulus
what are the main groups of glomerulonephritis?
immune mediated:
- either directed at something in the glomerulus
- caused by circulating complexes getting stuck in the sieve
OR
-related to vasculitis (secondary)
pathophysiology of good pastures syndrome?
- Alpha 3 subunit of collagen 4
- IgG antibodies
- direct attack of the glomerulus causing glomerulonephritis
most common cause of glomerulonephritis?
-circulating immune complexes
what may cause circulating immune complexes causing glomerulonephritis?
infection- hepatitis virus, bacteria (post strep), HIV
drugs- gold, penicillamine
cancer- any but often lymphoma
how does vasculitis cause glomerulonephritis?
-disrupt the membrane charge, blocking the membranes and stopping the glomeluar sieve from working
what is the difference between nephritic and nephrotic syndrome?
-these are not a diagnoses they are a clinical description
nephritic- haematuria, hypertension
nephrotic- heavy proteinuria, non dependant oedema, hyperlipidaemia
what allows you to classify nephritic and nephrotic syndrome further?
- light microscopy
- electron microscopy
- immunoflorescence
what do crescents in a renal biopsy suggest?
indicate rapidly progressive GMN
what do granulomas in a kidney biopsy suggest?
GPA or sarcoidosis
what is seen on light microscopy of glomerulonephritis?
- hypercellularity (due to inflammatory cells and reactive proliferations)
- sclerosis (due to ongoing damage)
- crescents
what is seen on electron microscopy of glomerulonephritis?
- look at the basement membrane and can see if the deposits are in a sub epithelial, mesangial or sub endothelial location
- this allows us to classify the type of glomerular disease
