Persistent renal damage following pre-eclampsia: a renal biopsy study of 13 patients.

Renal biopsy material was examined from 13 patients who had a history of pre-eclampsia and who were biopsied after delivery. The characteristic 'endotheliosis' associated with pre-eclampsia appeared to resolve at varying rates and was not seen in biopsies taken more than 1 month after delivery. Four of the biopsies showed residual focal segmental glomerular lesions which are described. Focal global glomerular sclerosis (eight biopsies), focal interstitial scarring (seven biopsies) and arteriolo-sclerosis (nine biopsies) were also identified. These findings support those earlier reports which indicated that pre-eclampsia is capable of producing persistent renal damage in a small but significant percentage of cases.