Blockade of alternative complement pathway in dense deposit disease.

A patient aged 17 with dense deposit disease associated with complement activation, circulating C3 Nef, and Factor H mutation presented with nephrotic syndrome and hypertension. Steroid therapy, plasma exchange, and rituximab failed to improve proteinuria and hypertension despite a normalization of the circulating sC5b9 complex. Eculizumab, a monoclonal antibody directed against C5, was used to block the terminal product of the complement cascade.

[Comparison of different techniques of hemodialysis vascular access flow evaluation: blood temperature monitoring thermodilution and doppler debimetry].

Background: Access blood flow measurements are considered useful indicators for thrombosis prevention. It was the purpose of this study to compare measurements of access blood flow by two different techniques: duplex doppler and BTM thermodilution.

Methods: Patients included must be on chronic hemodialysis on arterioveinous vascular access.

[Active WHO class IV lupus nephritis in a patient treated with etanercept for a psoriasic arthritis].

Introduction: Drug-induced lupus nephritis in patients treated with TNF α inhibitor is a rare adverse effect. Anti-TNF α therapies are commonly associated with the induction of auto-antibodies, whereas anti-TNF α-induced lupus is rare, most frequently involving arthritis and cutaneous lesions. However, several renal involvement has been reported.