Bile Cast Nephropathy: A Pathologic Finding with Manifold Causes Displayed in an Adult with Alcoholic Steatohepatitis and in a Child with Wilson’s Disease

Bile cast nephropathy (BCN) is seen in patients who have acute kidney injury and severe hyperbilirubinemia due to a wide range of hepatobiliary system diseases. Findings seen by renal biopsy include acute tubular injury with necrotic and sloughed epithelial cells, yellow-green pigment within tubular...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jose Torrealba, Nathan T. Sweed, Daniel Burguete, Allen R. Hendricks
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Karger Publishers 2018-09-01
Series:Case Reports in Nephrology and Dialysis
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/493231
Description
Summary:Bile cast nephropathy (BCN) is seen in patients who have acute kidney injury and severe hyperbilirubinemia due to a wide range of hepatobiliary system diseases. Findings seen by renal biopsy include acute tubular injury with necrotic and sloughed epithelial cells, yellow-green pigment within tubular epithelial cells, and pigmented granular casts. Hall’s special stain for bile turns these casts green. In recent years, BCN has been described in a small number of case reports and clinical studies primarily in the setting of severe liver dysfunction. We present 2 diverse cases of BCN. The first involves an adult with hepatorenal syndrome secondary to alcoholic steatohepatitis and early cirrhosis. Second, we describe the first reported case of BCN in a child with fulminant hepatic failure due to Wilson’s disease. Our cases expand the spectrum of causative diseases, and they provide further evidence that BCN is a distinct pathologic entity which may be found in both adult and pediatric patients with a variety of severe liver diseases.
ISSN:2296-9705