抄録
IgA nephropathy (IgAN) is the most common cause of glomerulonephritis in Japan. About 40% of IgAN cases proceed within 20 years to end-stage renal failure and dialysis. Of subjects undergoing renal transplantation, however, 40–60% suffer from recurrent IgAN, becoming a serious clinical problem.
Several recent reports have noted the efficacy of tonsillectomy against recurrent IgAN, although cases remain few and efficacy in long-term prognosis unclear.
We retrospectively studied 6 recurrent IgAN subjects undergoing tonsillectomy before or after renal transplantation for 21–68 months (mean: 54.3 months).
Of these, 5 undergoing tonsillectomy before or soon after renal transplantation showed highly improved urinary findings. Only 1 subject undergoing tonsillectomy 2.5 years after renal transplantation showed no improvement. We did not find any other related factors determining prognosis.
Our findings suggest that tonsillectomy is effective in treating recurrent IgAN. Tonsillectomy should be done soon before or after renal transplantation.
