[Clinical morphological and immunological characteristics of lupus nephropathy]

Analysis is carried out of the clinical, pathomorphological and immunological characteristic of lupus nephropathy in 62 patients, 56 females and 6 males. A series of new investigation methods were used for that purpose. An early tendency towards kidney involvement in the course of LED is established and in 22 of the patients (36%) the renal symptoms have been the first clinical manifestations of the basic illness. Lupus nephropathy progresses most often with a nephrosis syndrome (in 66.1% of the patients), rarely pure and not combined with hypertension and/or with renal insufficiency. The pathomorphological changes are rather multiform but in the majority of the cases almost all structural elements of glomerules and the rest of the renal tissue are affected. The clinical picture severity, histopathological changes and nephropathy evolution course were established to be distinctly dependent on the course acuteness of the basic morbid process. The importance of the detailed study of the clinico-morphological and immune characteristic of lupus nephropathy upon the timely diagnosis. Proper treatment and the prognosis assessment of the illness is stressed upon.