Tuberous sclerosis complex with end-stage renal failure

Renal angiomyolipoma is common in the tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), the classic features of which are facial angiofibroma, seizures, and mental retardation. We report a family with three affected members demonstrating the wide spectrum of TSC-associated lesions ranging from asymptomatic findings to life-threatening complications. The predominant symptoms of the index patient were hypertension and mild renal insufficiency at age 48, resulting in end-stage renal failure at age 63 due to giant bilateral angiomyolipoma of the kidneys. The two TSC-affected siblings had died years previously, one from pulmonary lymphangioleiomyomatosis and the other during an epileptic state; the latter had situs inversus totalis as another remarkable finding. The diagnosis of TSC may be overlooked if CNS symptoms are absent and if cutaneous lesions are masked by cosmetic procedures, as occurred in the index case. Chronic renal failure due to angiomyolipoma is not widely known to clinical nephrologists, but develops in approximately 15% of TSC patients. Displacement of functional renal parenchyma by abnormal tissue appears to be the major pathogenetic mechanism leading to end-stage renal failure. Angiomyolipomas can be diagnosed from this characteristic sonographic pattern and the demonstration of fatty tissue in CT or MRI. Multiple renal cysts are also common in TSC. Therefore TSC should be considered in the differential diagnosis of polycystic kidney disease.