Correlation of clinical, biochemical and functional parameters with histological lesions in secondary renal amyloidosis.

The records of fifty-five patients with secondary renal amyloidosis have been scrutinized in order to evaluate statistically the correlation of the various clinical features and biochemical alterations with the severity of histological lesions in this disease. An ‘amyloid factor’, calculated on the basis of the extent of glomerular amyloid deposition, was utilized for the grading of the latter. A significant correlation of the histological grading was observed with the duration of predisposing illness ( <0·02), alteration of total serum protein ( <0·001) and functional impairment as determined by the creatinine clearance test ( <0·002). There was, however, no significant correlation between the extent of glomerular lesions and clinical severity, the duration of oedema, the degree of proteinuria and the levels of blood urea, serum albumin and serum cholesterol.