Atheroembolic renal disease and membranous nephropathy, in a patient with myelodysplastic syndrome, eosinophilia, and trisomy 8

Abstract

Atheroembolic renal disease (ARD) is an important and often misdiagnosed cause of renal failure. It usually occurs in adult patients suffering from atherosclerosis and is a result of embolization of cholesterol crystals from atheromatous plaques, in small sized arteries causing ischaemia of the tissues affected. Acute renal failure of variable severity, at times irreversible, accompanies this disorder [1]. A common laboratory finding, in 70–80% of the cases, is eosinophilia, usually mild [1]. However, eosinophilia can rarely be an expression of a myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) [2]. Furthermore, in a small percentage of patients with MDS, a variety of autoimmune or paraneoplasmatic disorders, like relapsing polychondritis, vasculitis syndromes, etc., coexist with this haematological process, with glomerulonephritis being a rare association [3]. A 61-year-old patient is described and discussed thoroughly. The patient had ARD, membranous nephropathy and MDS with eosinophilia, and trisomy 8 of bone marrow cells coexisted.