Acute renal failure in cirrhosis associated with macroscopic hematuria of glomerular origin

Two patients with alcoholic cirrhosis developed an acute impairment of renal function during an episode of macroscopic hematuria, one of them requiring hemodialysis treatment. Later, when gross hematuria disappeared, renal function gradually improved. The histological findings in both patients showed a mild mesangial glomerulonephritis with IgA deposits on immunofluorescence, the presence of red blood cells casts obstructing the lumen in 40% to 50% of the renal tubules, and a marked tubular necrosis.