#2781 Renal cortical necrosis—a rare cause of acute kidney injury

Abstract

Abstract Background and Aims Renal cortical necrosis (RCN) is a rare and catastrophic cause of acute kidney injury (AKI). It is characterized by ischemic destruction of all the elements of renal cortex due to marked reduction in renal arterial perfusion of renal cortex due to vascular spasm and microvascular injury. It can be patchy or diffuse depending upon the cause and extent of hypoperfusion. Snake bite is rare cause of RCN. Incidence of RCN following snake bite has been reported to be as high as in 25% of the bitten patients to <1%. Lack or delay in receiving anti snake venom (ASV) has been observed to be a contributing factor in development of RCN following snake bite. Method A 45-year-old female had an unknown bite on foot while returning to home at twilight. She had intense pain at site of bite with slight ooze of blood. Overnight she had vomiting and pain abdomen. Subsequently she developed progressive fall in urine output and dyspnoea. After about 36 hours of bite at the time of admission in hospital she had anuria, prolonged whole blood clotting time, tachypnoea, hypoxemia and required oxygen (O2) to maintain normal O2 saturation. She was given two doses of polyvalent ASV 6 hours apart which corrected her coagulation defect. Investigations showed: haemoglobin—9 gm/dl, total leucocyte count—18700/mcl, platelet—1.15 lakh/mcl, blood urea—88 mg/dl and serum creatinine—10.5 mg/dl. She was managed with haemodialysis and supportive care. Even after 3 weeks of onset of AKI, she had anuria so a kidney biopsy was done. Results kidney biopsy on light microscopy examination showed 9 glomeruli; 8 revealing global tuft necrosis along with necrosis of adjacent tubules and vasculature and necrotic process affected around 60% of sampled cortical area consistent with cortical necrosis (Fig. 1). She was continued with haemodialysis support and urine output and pre-dialysis serum creatinine were monitored. Her urine output after 3 months of onset of AKI is around one litre per day but her pre-dialysis serum creatinine stays in the range of 9-10 mg/dl and so she continues to receive biweekly haemodialysis. Conclusion In our index case, there was delay in getting ASV which may have contributed to development of RCN. So, early treatment of snake bite is important to prevent this catastrophic complication.