The predictive value of kidney biopsy in renal vasculitis: a multicenter cohort study.

The histopathologic classification of antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis has been demonstrated to have prognostic value in small cohorts of patients with pauci-immune extracapillary glomerulonephritis. We aimed to validate this histologic subgrouping system in a large cohort of patients with renal vasculitis from 3 Spanish centers. The additional value of several histologic parameters for predicting renal outcome was investigated.

[Merkel cell carcinoma in a patient with chronic lymphocytic leukemia].

Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is an infrequent neuroendocrine tumor of the skin with a high potential for local recurrence, lymphatic dissemination and distant dissemination. We present a case of MCC in a male patient with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). The immunosuppression induced by the leukemia or by the chemotherapy could play a pathogenic role in the association of these diseases.