Tubulointerstitial Diseases - Nichols Flashcards
What are the various forms of tubulointerstitial disease?
acute tubular necrosis
peylonephritis
interstitial nephritis
cystic disease
What is the relationship between acute kidney injury and acute tubular necrosis?
ATN is a subset of AKI (the worst kind)
What is the relationship between acute tubular necrosis and ischemia?
Ischemic ATN is a subset of ATN (probably around 75% of ATN)
What are the gross pathologies of ATN?
enlarged kidneys (up to 30% over normal) pale cortex (frequently reduced blood flow) congested medulla, espicially at the cortico-medullary junction
Why do you sometimes see bleeding, hemorrhages in ATN?
there can be reperfusion to the area
What portion of the renal tubules are most vulnerable to acute ischemic necrosis and why?
the TALH and the proximal straight tubule;
both of these areas are high in active transport but located in the outer medulla. as such, they already receive less blood flow than the parts of the nephron in the cortex. so they are at increased risk of acute ischemic necrosis. this is the area that gets extremely congested in ATN
What is the histologic finding of ATN at an early ischemic state?
blebbing of the luminal side cell membranes (looks kinda fuzzy and strands througout the lumen)
diffuse edema of tubular cells (vacuolization of cytoplasm)
Loss of brush borders, flattening of epithelium and necrosis and sloughing
What types of casts are typically seen in ATN?
muddy brown casts, that are pigmented, brownish and coarsely granular
The apoptotic renal tubular epithelial cells are most likely to have decreased cytoplasmic activity of what?
BCL2
What can be seen in ATN from rhabdomyolysis?
condensed, darker cells in the cell, this is myoglobin from rhabdomyolysis
What is seen histologically upon ethylene glycol poisoning?
vacuoliztation and calcium oxalate. looks like fragments, like a fan
Why is reversible ATN not considered an oxymoron?
at the level of the pt, it’s reversible. just not on the individual cell levels
Potassium over what is a medical emergency?
over 7 mmol/L
What is the immediate tx for potassium levels of 7 mmol.L
IV CALCIUM GLUCONATE (antagonizes membrane depolarization and protects against cardiac arrhythmiass
IV Insulin + Glucose (drives potassium from bloodstream into cells)
Wht is seen on gross pathology in acute pyelonephritis?
dark red congestion and areas of light tan suppurative inflammation, some with necrosis, some coalescing into abscesses