Antepartum or immediate postpartum renal biopsies in preeclampsia/eclampsia of pregnancy: new morphologic and clinical findings.

Abstract

Endotheliosis, vacuolation of podocytes, proliferation of mesangial cells, and protein casts in the tubule lumens were found in the kidneys of women with PE/eclampsia. Immune depositions of C4 and IgM are major contributors to renal lesions in preeclamptic patients, whose neonates can generally survive. Eclampsia can occur without increased blood pressure.