Glomerulonephritis with dense deposits: a variant of membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis or a separate morphological entity? Light, electron microscopic and immunohistochemical study of eleven cases.

Eleven cases of glomerulonephritis with dense deposits were selected on the basis of electron microscopic examination performed either on material treated according to conventional techniques (9 cases) or on previously paraffin-embedded material (2 cases). While uniform immunohistochemical patterns were observed, different features were shown by light microscopy: in only 3 cases were membranoproliferative or lobular patterns present, while in the others a varying degree of mesangial cell proliferation (moderate, mild or even very scanty with focal and segmental distribution) was detected. The generally accepted statement that glomerulonephritis with dense deposits represents a subgroup of membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis therefore seems questionable. In addition to several clinical and serological data, these morphological features give further support to the hypothesis that glomerulonephritis with dense deposits in all respects a peculiar and distinct form of glomerulonephritis.