Preexisting glomerulonephritis in allografted kidneys. Occurrence in man.

Biopsy specimens were taken from 43 renal allografts after completion of the anastomoses. In five kidneys from four donors, mesangial lesions compatible with preexisting glomerulonephritis were found. Immunofluorescence study of three kidneys indicated immunecomplex pathogenesis. In one donor, congenital heart disease was present: the others were free of manifest (renal) disease. Clinical follow-up data and repeated renal biopsy specimens indicated an uneventful course of these allografts. Awareness of this kind of lesions is useful for interpretation of glomerular lesions in biopsy specimens from renal transplants.