Gold nephropathy a clinical and pathologic study

Abstract

Abstract Proteinuria developed in 5 of 75 rheumatoid arthritis patients treated with gold salts. In 2 of these 5 patients criteria for the nephrotic syndrome were fulfilled. Two other cases of gold‐induced nephrotic syndrome are also reported. Blood and urine gold levels were measured on 27 of the 75 patients and no difference was found between the 2 patients who eventually developed the nephrotic syndrome and the 25 who did not. Light, electronmicroscopic and histochemical studies revealed no difference in the site or degree of gold deposition in the 4 cases with nephrotic syndrome, as compared with 1 patient who did not have proteinuria. Eventual clearing of the proteinuria was fairly closely related to the degree of glomerular basement membrane thickening, as judged by light microscopy.