Renal tubular abnormalities in hydrops fetalis: a histological and immunohistochemical study

An immunohistochemical study of renal tubule cell differentiation in hydrops fetalis was performed using antibodies against lysozyme, CD15, keratin, epithelial membrane antigen and Leu-7, and formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded sections of tissue that was obtained at autopsy. In 3 cases among 17 cases of hydrops fetalis (17.6%) there was a marked decrease in the number of cells stained positively for lysozyme, suggesting abnormal differentiation of the cells of the proximal convoluted tubules. This is the first report concerning the abnormalities of the renal tubular epithelium in hydrops fetalis.