Hereditary nephritis and pregnancy

Abstract

A 25-year-old woman is presented with congenital ocular defects, perceptive hearing loss since aged 8, and evidence of chronic renal disease since aged 19. During her second pregnancy she developed the nephrotic syndrome which spontaneously subsided post partum, despite persistent evidence of reduced renal function and proteinuria. A percutaneous renal biopsy revealed the changes associated with hereditary nephritis with deafness. It is postulated that the increase in renal blood flow and glomerular filtration rate, which usually accompanies pregnancy, increased the urinary excretion of protein until serum albumin was reduced and the clinical pattern of the nephrotic syndrome emerged.