Shedding Light on the Chemical Diversity of Ectopic Calcifications in Kidney Tissues: Diagnostic and Research Aspects

What is it about?

In most industrialized countries, different epidemiologic studies show that chronic renal failure is dramatically increasing. Such major public health problem is a consequence of acquired systemic diseases such as type II diabetes, which is now the first cause for end stage renal failure. Furthermore, lithogenic diseases may also induce intratubular crystallization, which may finally result in end-stage renal failure (ESRF). Up to now, such rare diseases are often misdiagnosed.

Featured Image

Why is it important?

In our series, two patients were diagnosed using synchrotron examination of biopsies after renal impairment of the grafted kidney. They were treated with allopurinol and they recovered a large part of their kidney function. Such observations underline the clinical interest of early identification of crystals in the tissue.