Medical renal diseases are frequent but often unrecognized in adult autopsies

Abstract

Kidney diseases affect many hospitalized patients and contribute to morbidity and mortality. Therefore, kidney disease should be prevalent, but the frequency and spectrum of medical renal pathology in autopsy specimens has not been well documented. We sought to determine the spectrum of medical renal pathology in adult autopsy specimens and the frequency of overlooked diagnoses. We reviewed the hematoxylin- and eosin-stained kidney sections from 140 adult autopsies performed at a large teaching hospital over a 2-year period. Fifty-eight cases (41%) had findings warranting further analysis, including alterations in glomerular matrix and/or cellularity, atypical or pigmented casts, thrombi, tubulointerstitial or vascular inflammation, or deposition of amorphous material. After additional studies and clinical correlation, the pathologic changes in 43 cases (31%) were categorized as follows: diabetic nephropathy, bile cast nephropathy, thrombotic microangiopathy, infection-related glomerulonephritis, focal necrotizing/crescentic glomerulonephritis, oxalate nephropathy, light-chain cast nephropathy, amyloidosis, urate nephropathy, hemosiderosis, antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis, polyoma virus nephropathy, atheroembolic disease, and nephrocalcinosis. These diagnoses were not reported in 26 (60%) cases during the initial autopsy evaluation. This study demonstrates that medical renal diseases are common in autopsy cases, but significant diagnoses can be easily overlooked. Autopsy kidney specimens are a rich source of renal pathology and their evaluation should be emphasized in anatomic pathology residency training. Ultimately, our understanding of how kidney disease contributes to morbidity and mortality will benefit from accurate recognition of renal pathology in autopsy specimens.