A quantitative study of the renal corpuscles in acute renal allograft rejection

A quantitative examination including total and differential counts of nuclei and determination of total glomerular and mesangial areas was carried out in a consecutive series of biopsies from 14 patients with acute renal allograft rejections. The biopsies included in the study were taken within 4--30 days after transplantation because of suspected acute rejection, and histological examination revealed interstitial and vascular signs of rejection without the presence of cortical infarcts. Mesangial area per cent of total area was found to be significantly higher in allografts than in control kidneys, just as a statistically significant increase in the number of mesangial nuclei was demonstrated. Three of the 14 allografts had to be rechanges in these 3 biopsies were more pronounced than those in the remaining biopsies. It is suggested that quantitative glomerular studies might yield data of significance for prediction of the ultimate fate of the graft.