Renal disease in pregnancy

Renal biopsy was obtained in 11 primiparous and 9 multiparous patients with severe pre-eclampsia. The large number of patients with renal disease allowed for single-case evaluation. Eclamptic convulsions and fetal deaths were observed in association with renal disease without foci of additional primary glomerular endotheliosis. The data indicate that pregnancy can exacerbate renal disease and allow for early diagnosis. Fluorescence angiography revealed changes in patients in whom the optic fundi were normal. Tissues of glomerulonephritis stained by immune fluorescence against immunoglobulins and on occasion against human fibrinogen. Primary endotheliosis and nephrosclerosis stained against fibrinogen only. There was no pattern of laboratory data to make the differential diagnosis between primary endotheliosis and various forms of renal disease. Fibrinogen breakdown products were inconsistently increased in contrast to fibrin monomer formation, which was increased regardless of the underlying morphology. It is our feeling that renal biopsy with subsequent pathologic classification is the only technique we have at present which provides relevant information on the effect of renal disease on pregnancy and vice versa.