Acute renal failure of glomerular origin during visceral abscesses

We studied 11 patients who had visceral abscesses and in whom acute renal failure developed. All renal biopsies showed a diffuse proliferative and crescentig glomerulonephritis. In seven patients blood cultures were repeatedly negative. Endocarditis could be ruled out in six patients. Seven patients had circulating cryoglobulins; serum complement levels were normal in seven and decreased in four; circulating immune complexes were found in the three patients studied. The evolution of the glomerulonephritis, documented by serial biopsies, closely paralleled the course of the infection. A complete recovery of renal function occurred in four cases in which a rapid and complete cure of the infection was obtained. Of five patients in whom the infection was not cured, four died, and chronic renal failure developed in one. In two patients in whom therapy was delayed, chronic renal failure also developed. Deep suppuration, even in the absence of bacteremia, may be responsible for a severe but possibly reversible glomerulonephritis with circulating immune complexes.