First Treatment of Relapsing Rapidly Progressive IgA Nephropathy With Eculizumab After Living Kidney Donation: A Case Report

IgA nephropathy (IGAN) rarely can present as a crescent and progressive form leading to end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in a short period of time. Recurrence of IGAN after kidney transplantation is frequent, and complement components such as C3, C4d, and C5 seem to be involved. We present a case of a young male patient with ESRD caused by rapidly progressive IGAN and who demonstrated rapid recurrence of crescentic IGAN after kidney donation. In September 2014, a 28-year-old male patient was hospitalized due to IGAN with 60% of crescents. Cyclophosphamide, steroids, and plasmapheresis did not prevent ESRD. After 8 months of peritoneal dialysis, the patient received a blood group–compatible living donor kidney from his 57-year-old mother. Immunosuppression consisted of tacrolimus, mycophenolic acid, and steroids without induction therapy. Acute graft failure occurred 2 months later, and graft biopsy results revealed recurrence of crescentic IGAN. Cyclophosphamide was added to tacrolimus and steroid treatment, but graft function could not be restored despite viable kidney tissue in repeated biopsy specimens. Rescue therapy with 4 single doses of eculizumab was introduced while hemodialysis had already been initiated. After a cumulative dose of 1800 mg of eculizumab, kidney function did not recover. In this case, eculizumab was not effective in treating IGAN recurrence after transplantation. Therapy was started late when hemodialysis had already been initiated; an earlier start of therapy might be more effective. •We report a case of the rare recurrence of crescentic IgA nephropathy (IGAN) after living kidney donation with fatal progression.•Because cyclophosphamide, steroids and plasmapheresis could not prevent graft failure and there is evidence of the involvement of complement components in IGAN, we started therapy with the complement binding antibody eculizumab.•This is the first reported case of rescue therapy with eculizumab in IGAN after kidney transplantation, and although we could not prevent graft loss in this case, we wanted to share the experience.