Crystals, crystals everywhere but not a clue till late … Light chain crystalline proximal tubulopathy with concomitant myeloma cast nephropathy.

We report the case of a 48-year-old Indian woman with multiple myeloma, who presented with acute kidney injury and nephrotic syndrome, in whom the renal biopsy revealed widespread crystalline inclusions in extraglomerular and glomerular compartments. We present illustrative light microscopic (LM) and diagnostic electron microscopic (EM) findings of this case which enabled a diagnosis of crystalline LCPT, crystal storing histiocytosis, and crystalline podocytopathy occurring synchronously with myeloma cast nephropathy. While documenting this unique juxtapositioning of multicompartmental paraproteinemic renal injury in multiple myeloma, diagnosed after EM analysis of the patient's renal biopsy, we discuss the pathogenetic pathways of this condition along with the clinical implications. Due to intrinsic structural properties of the crystals, they frequently escape detection by routine LM, necessitating EM analysis for their diagnosis. Given the prognostic implications of tubulopathies complicating myeloma, LCPT is a critically important diagnosis, highlighting the need for a comprehensive renal biopsy evaluation inclusive of EM for the practice of precision medicine in such scenarios. PMID: 32769341 [PubMed - in process]
Source: Indian Journal of Pathology and Microbiology - Category: Pathology Authors: Tags: Indian J Pathol Microbiol Source Type: research