Nail-patella syndrome in a spontaneously aborted 18-week fetus: ultrastructural and immunofluorescent study of the kidneys.

Nail-patella syndrome (NPS), hereditary onycho-osteodysplasia, is an autosomal dominant disorder of nail dystrophy, patellar absence or hypoplasia, incomplete elbow extension, conical posterior iliac horns, and nephropathy. We studied the kidneys of an 18-week spontaneously aborted fetus of a mother with the NPS. Ultrastructural examination of the kidney showed thickening of the capillary walls of the glomeruli and mesangium.

Hb south Milwaukee [beta 105 (G7) Leu----Phe]: a newly-identified hemoglobin variant with high oxygen affinity.

Fifteen individuals among four generations of a family of English ancestry demonstrated elevated hemoglobin levels accompanied by leftward-shifted whole blood oxygen equilibrium curves. Five of the affected family members have required phlebotomies for relief of symptoms attributable to erythrocytosis. An abnormal hemoglobin or globin chain could not be isolated, but 43% of the beta chains of the affected individuals contained a Leu----Phe substitution at position 105 (G7).

Secondary oxalosis as a complication of parenteral alimentation in acute renal failure.

Secondary oxalosis is a complication of renal failure. Since oxalate is excreted by the kidney, the severity of oxalate deposition has been directly related to the duration of renal failure. We report a patient with acute renal failure on hemodialysis who received daily ascorbic acid (an oxalate precursor) via parenteral alimentation.

A simple and rapid method for osteoclast identification using a histochemical method for acid phosphatase.

A detailed description of a simple technique for acid phosphatase demonstration in osteoclast cells is presented. The method is short, relatively uninvolved and allows the use of undecalcified bone sections. All materials and chemicals used are commercially available.

Calcium-oxalate-crystal-induced bone disease.

A 13-year-old boy with primary hyperoxaluria and a successful renal allograft developed symptomatic bone disease, hypercalcemia, and hypercalciuria. Transiliac bone biopsy revealed calcium oxalate crystals in the marrow within mononuclear phagocytes and multinucleated giant cells. Deep resorption bays were seen adjacent to these crystal-cell aggregates.