Glomerulonephritis

The verdict on Peter's kidneys is that he has glomerulonephritis. from Medline, "Glomerulonephritis is a type of kidney disease caused by inflammation of the internal kidney structures (glomeruli), which help filter waste and fluids from the blood." There can be different reasons for the condition, and it can be mild, moderate, or severe in nature. We think that Peter has had this for many months and that he is presenting as a mild case. The nephrologist feels Peter's cause is likely IgA nephropathy versus some of the other causes that could be the culprit, but the only way to make a definite diagnosis of the cause would be to do a kidney biopsy. Peter is not the ideal candidate for biopsy of any organs due to portal hypertension, so unless he gets acutely worse or does not respond to medication, we will just ride on the fact that he has glomerulonephritis and remain watchful.

He has started on vasotec (enalapril), which is a blood pressure lowering medication. He does not have high blood pressure, which is a blessing since it can go hand-in-hand with kidney disease, but the medication also has the property of protecting the kidney from scarring. Prolonged inflammation of the kidneys from glomerulonephritis can eventually cause scarring of the kidneys and long-term damage. He has been on this medication for several days now and seems to be tolerating it well. We will hope for his labs to show that he handles the medication well and will return to the nephrologist in two months. Peter will likely need to stay on the medication for a good long time, possibly for life. The nephrologist said that sometimes people clear the condition, and sometimes they do not. We are on a wait-and-see approach to see where things end up, but it all sounded encouraging and manageable.