Clinical Outcomes and Histological Patterns in Oxalate Nephropathy due to Enteric and Nonenteric Risk Factors

Current knowledge of risk factors and renal histologic patterns of oxalate nephropathy (ON) not due to primary hyperoxaluria (PH) has been limited to small case series and case reports. Thus, we analyzed and compared clinical risk factors, histologic characteristics, and renal outcomes of patients with biopsy-confirmed ON among a cohort of patients with enteric and nonenteric risk factors.

A clinical data repository of native kidney pathology reports from 2009 to 2020 at all Mayo Clinic sites was used to identify 421 ON cases.

After excluding cases in transplanted kidneys or due to PH, 64 cases remained. Enteric risk factors were present in 30 and nonenteric in 34. Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (17) and pancreatic insufficiency (6) were most common in the enteric hyperoxaluria group. In the nonenteric group, vitamin C (7) and dietary oxalate (7) were common, while no apparent risk was noted in 16. Acute kidney injury (AKI) stage III at the time of diagnosis was present in 60%, and 40.6% required dialysis. Patients in the nonenteric group had more interstitial inflammation (p = 0.01), and a greater number of tubules contained intratubular calcium oxalate (CaOx) crystals (p = 0.001) than the nonenteric group. Patients in the enteric group were more likely to have baseline chronic kidney disease (CKD) (p = 0.02) and moderate-to-severe tubulointerstitial fibrosis and atrophy (IFTA) (OR 3.49, p = 0.02). After a median follow-up of 10 months, 39% were dialysis dependent, 11% received a kidney transplant, and 32% died. On univariate analysis, >10 tubules with CaOx crystals, baseline CKD, and AKI requiring dialysis correlated with the risk of dialysis, transplant, or death. On multivariate analysis, only AKI requiring dialysis correlated with adverse renal outcomes.

This is the largest cohort study of ON not due to PH. Histologic features differ in patients with enteric versus nonenteric risks. Patients in the enteric group are more likely to have baseline CKD and significant IFTA, while patients in the nonenteric group were more likely to have a greater number of tubules with CaOx crystals and corresponding interstitial inflammation. AKI requiring dialysis at the time of diagnosis was the single most significant predictor of adverse renal outcome.