Mesangiolytic glomerulonephritis in an infant with immune deficiency and echovirus infection.

An unusual glomerulonephritis characterized by diffuse mesangial cell necrosis and lysis of mesangial areas was observed in a male infant who had a combined immune deficiency and systemic echovirus type 6 infection. The occurrence of glomerular disease in a patient with combined immune deficiency indicates that the glomerular injury can be inflicted without mediation of immune mechanisms, presumably by direct cytopathic effect of echovirus 6.