[Renal manifestations of sarcoidosis. A report of nine cases].

Purpose: Clinical renal outbreaks occurring in the course of sarcoidosis are polymorphous.

Methods: Nine patients presenting with sarcoidosis were followed up for 18 years.

Results: Five patients presented with chronic interstitial nephritis. Renal failure accompanying granuloma was also present in three of them. Corticotherapy allowed rapid improvement in renal function in three patients. In two other cases, late treatment prevented recovery and led to end-stage renal failure in one case. In another case, persistent hypercalciuria was responsible for bilateral nephrolithiasis further treated via extracorporeal lithotrity. One case of mesangial glomerulonephritis and two morbid associations (retroperitoneal fibrosis and Henoch-Schönlein purpura) were observed.

Conclusion: Interstitial nephritis is still a severe clinical renal outbreak. Corticotherapy must be prescribed early to avoid renal failure. Calcium metabolism disorders are frequent and often combined with interstitial nephritis. Hypercalcemia can often and rapidly be improved via corticotherapy, while monitoring of hypercalciuria proves to be more difficult. Membranous glomerulonephritis is still the most frequently reported glomerular lesion.