Background:The pathological class of lupus nephritis (LN) may change to a different class during the course of the disease. Renal biopsy is repeated is repeated in many patients during a flare but there is there is no agreement about systematically recommending them because proliferative lesions on their original biopsy rarely switch to a pure nonproliferative nephritis during a flare. However, renal rebiopsy may be useful in some cases to make appropriate adjustments or changes of treatment.Objectives:To analyze the impact of renal rebiopsy on the therapeutic approach in patients with previous histological diagnosis of LN who experience a worsening in the clinical parameters of renal involvement.Methods:Retrospective study of patients with histological diagnosis of NL subjected to at least one renal biopsy. We studied the demographic, clinical, histopathological variables of the first and subsequent renal biopsies, received treatment and the therapeutic modifications in relation to the result of the rebiopsies.Results:We analyzed 35 patients diagnosed with LN between 1978 and 2017. 9 of them had been rebiopsied at least on one occasion and made a total of 11 rebiopsies (7 patients with a rebiopsy and 2 patients with 2 rebiopsies). All patients were female and Caucasian, except for a Hispanic woman, with a mean age at the time of the rebiopsy of 31 ± 12 years (14-55). The mean serum creatinine at the time of the first re-biopsy was 0.8 ± 0.17 mg/dl (0.5-1.06) and in the second, 1.18 ± 0.05 mg/dl (1.15-1.23). The fundamental indication for the rebiopsy was the increase in proteinuria, up to non-nephrotic range in 64% of the patients and within the nephrotic range in 36%. In comparison with the previous biopsy, 3 of the rebiopsies (27%) showed evolution from a non-proliferative to a proliferative form (from II to III, from II to IV and from V to V + IV). 4 of the rebiopsies (36%) started from a proliferative class and changed class but within these forms (3 from IV to III and and 1 from III to IV). The remaining 4 rebiopsies (27%) showed no change in the histological type. Regarding the baseline biopsy, we observed a decrease in the index of activity of the rebiopsies (5.4 ± 2.2 vs 3.4 ± 2.5, p = 0.017) and an increase in the chronicity index (0.8 ± 0.7 vs 2.9 ± 3.2, p = 0.027). In all cases, therapeutic modifications were carried out. In 9 cases (82%) the immunosuppression was increased and in two of them (18%) it was decreased.Conclusion:The repetition of renal biopsy in cases of LN with clinical data of renal deterioration is relevant. The change of histological class and the evolution of activity and chronicity indexes support the decision to increase immunosuppression and are fundamental to diminish it.References[1] Narváez J, et al. The value of repeat biopsy in lupus nephritis flares. Medicine (Baltimore). 2017;96:e7099.Disclosure of Interests:None declared
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.