[A patient with rapidly progressing renal failure, florid syphilis and positive HIV serology]

We describe the frist reported case in Switzerland of HIV-associated nephropathy (HIVAN). HIVAN shows a typical combination of clinical findings: black race, proteinuria, large hyper-echogenic kidneys, normal blood pressure, positive HIV serology and no autoantibodies. The histologic findings are typical: focal segmental glomerulosclerosis of the collapsing variant, often with marked interstitial nephritis. The disease normally appears before AIDS symptoms develop and follows a very aggressive course to end-stage renal disease. Therapy consists of a combination of nucleoside reverse transcriptase and proteinase inhibitors, ACE inhibitors, and possibly steroids. In end-stage renal disease patients can be managed by haemodialysis, continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) or kidney transplantation.