Browsing by Author "Mendez, Gonzalo P."

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    A secondary focal segmental glomerulosclerosis due to prematurity
    (2021) Valdes, Gloria; Norero, Colomba; Mendez, Gonzalo P.
    Both premature birth and low birth weight compromise nephron development. The lower nephron endowment is subjected to compensatory hyperfiltration that overloads the glomeruli and leads to the vicious circle of progressive deterioration of renal function. Objective: To emphasize the risk of renal involvement in this susceptible population by describing the case of a patient with long-term follow-up. Clinical Case: Low-weight premature newborn, who presented at 3 years of age severe hypertension, which was controlled with different types of antihypertensive drugs. However, 10 years later subnephrotic proteinuria was detected; a renal biopsy confirmed a focal and segmental glomerulosclerosis. Despite blocking the renin-angiotensin system for 23 years, his renal function progressively deteriorated, until requiring chronic hemodialysis during the last 3 years. Conclusion: It is essential to increase the awareness of the risk of renal damage in premature and low weight newborns in order to establish management that covers from gestation to adult life and to achieve an individual and epidemiological impact on renal health.
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    Acute liver failure and liver transplantation secondary to flutamide treatment in a prostate cancer patient
    (2020) Rojas, Pablo A.; Iglesias, Tomas G.; Barrera, Francisco; Mendez, Gonzalo P.; Torres, Javiera; San Francisco, Ignacio F.
    Flutamide is a first-generation nonsteroidal antiandrogen, used for treatment of advanced prostate cancer (PCa). We present the clinical case of a patient with localized high-risk PCa who started flutamide before radical prostatectomy and evolved with acute liver failure and liver transplantation. Hepatotoxicity induced by antiandrogen therapy, and current indications for first generation anti-androgen therapy were reviewed. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a man diagnosed with PCa who evolved with acute liver failure secondary to flutamide, and finally required liver transplantation.
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    Antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA) associated renal vasculitis and pregnancy. Report of one case
    (SOC MEDICA SANTIAGO, 2016) Vega, Jorge; Mendez, Gonzalo P.
    ANCA mediated vasculitis mainly occur between the fourth and fifth decade of life; therefore, it is very uncommon to see pregnant patients with the disease. Vasculitis may affect significantly the course of pregnancy; in turn pregnancy can change the course of vasculitis. We report a 20 years old woman with AN-CA-mediated renal vasculitis lasting 10 years who consulted with a pregnancy of 15 weeks. She was in remission and had amenorrhea attributed to ovarian toxicity due to cyclophosphamide. Pregnancy had an uneventful course with spontaneous delivery at the 37th week, giving birth to a healthy newborn. Proteinuria increased during the course of pregnancy with a mild deterioration of kidney function. During the year after delivery, she had nephrotic proteinuria and a worsening of renal function.
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    Clinical Presentation and Perioperative Management of Pheochromocytomas and Paragangliomas: A 4-Decade Experience
    (ENDOCRINE SOC, 2021) Uslar, Thomas; San Francisco, Ignacio F.; Olmos, Roberto; Macchiavelo, Stefano; Zuniga, Alvaro; Rojas, Pablo; Garrido, Marcelo; Huete, Alvaro; Mendez, Gonzalo P.; Cortinez, Ignacio; Zemelman, Jose Tomas; Cifuentes, Joaquin; Castro, Fernando; Olivari, Daniela; Dominguez, Jose Miguel; Arteaga, Eugenio; Fardella, Carlos E.; Valdes, Gloria; Tagle, Rodrigo; Baudrand, Rene
    Purpose: Latin American reports on pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas (PPGLs) are scarce. Recent studies demonstrate changes in clinical presentation and management of these patients. Herein, we assessed the main characteristics of PPGL patients in our academic center over the past 4 decades.
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    Complete remission of nephrotic syndrome associated with carcinoma of the cervix after treatment of the tumor. Report of two cases
    (SOC MEDICA SANTIAGO, 2012) Vega, Jorge; Santamarina, Mario; Mendez, Gonzalo P.
    Nephrotic syndrome secondary to paraneoplastic glomerulopathies is exceptional. We are aware of only three cases reported of cervical carcinomas associated with nephrotic syndrome. Two women, aged 40 and 79 years, presented with nephrotic syndrome. The first had a membranous nephropathy and the second was not biopsied. The first women had a metrorrhagia after 8 months of unsuccessful therapy with corticosteroids and immunosuppressive drugs. An advanced cervical carcinoma with lymph node metastases was found. In the second patient, a cervical carcinoma and hematometra was discovered two months after diagnosis of a nephrotic syndrome. The syndrome subsided completely, nine months after radiotherapy and chemotherapy in the first patient and 10 months after hysterectomy in the second patient. (Rev Med Chile 2012; 140: 1580-1584).
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    Complete remission of non-HIV collapsing glomerulopathy with deflazacort and lisinopril in an adult patient
    (2010) Vega, Jorge; Javier Guarda, Francisco; Goecke, Helmuth; Mendez, Gonzalo P.
    Collapsing glomerulopathy is a form of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis that is usually associated with HIV-1 infection, and is characterized by its poor prognosis and almost inevitable progression to end-stage renal disease. Its pathological features include collapsed glomeruli, podocyte hypertrophy and hyperplasia, and pseudocrescents. This case report shows the evolution of a 58-year-old patient with non-HIV idiopathic collapsing glomerulopathy who presented with severe nephrotic syndrome and renal insufficiency and was treated with lisinopril and deflazacort, a synthetic corticosteroid that has shown fewer cosmetic effects and glucose and bone metabolism complications than prednisone. The patient responded with full recovery of renal function and normal range of protein excreted in urine after less than two years of treatment. The patient has not suffered a recurrence of his nephrotic syndrome after three years of steroid withdrawal. There is no proven therapy for collapsing glomerulopathy, and this case highlights an alternative for treating this disease with few secondary effects.
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    Coryneform Bacteria in Granulomatous Lobular Mastitis: Morphological Diagnosis in Breast Biopsies
    (2019) Oddo, David; Stefanelli, Angeles; Villarroel, Alejandra; Mendez, Gonzalo P.
    Granulomatous lobular mastitis is a rare disease whose origin is still unknown and shows an increase in its frequency. Morphological, microbiological, and molecular biology studies have linked this disease to lipophilic and fastidious corynebacteria, suggesting its possible infectious etiology. This series describes and reviews in detail the distinctive morphological characteristics of the bacteria present in the granulomas of this disease, the usefulness of histochemical techniques for their identification, and our proposal for a tissue quantification score for the bacteria. The MacCallum-Goodpasture method of Gram's stain turned out to be the gold standard for examination, but we also highlight the efficiency of hematoxylin and eosin stain when it is exhaustively examined as well as the Grocott stain to evaluate the bacterial pleomorphism method, which is often underutilized.
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    Diagnosis of light chain cast nephropathy through immunostaining of the urine: Perfecting the "liquid biopsy"
    (2021) Pablo Huidobro, Juan E.; Anghileri, Fiorella; Mendez, Gonzalo P.; Barrera, Gonzalo; Reyes, Romina; Sepulveda, Rodrigo A.
    Light chain (LC) cast nephropathy is the main cause of kidney injury and an important determinant of poor survival in patients with multiple myeloma (MM). It is usually suspected when an MM patient with elevated serum concentration of free LC presents kidney failure, but it often requires confirmation by kidney biopsy. We report the case of a 73-year-old woman who presented with fatigue, weight loss, and constipation. Laboratory exams revealed anemia, hypercalcemia, and kidney failure. Urine sediment analysis demonstrated irregular crystalline "waxy type" casts. With the hypothesis of LC cast nephropathy, immunostaining of the urine sediment was performed. The analysis revealed several rectangular and irregular casts with intense and bright stain for lambda LCs only. A myelogram was performed, showing extensive occupation of the bone marrow by plasma cells; and immunofixation in urine and serum revealed monoclonal IgG-lambda component, confirming the diagnosis of IgG-lambda MM. This case highlights the potential utility of the urine sediment analysis and immunostaining as a reliable non-invasive alternative method for diagnosis of cast nephropathy in patients with monoclonal gammopathies.
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    Galectin-8 counteracts folic acid-induced acute kidney injury and prevents its transition to fibrosis
    (2024) Perez-Moreno, Elisa; Toledo, Tomas; Campusano, Pascale; Zuniga, Sebastian; Azocar, Lorena; Feuerhake, Teo; Mendez, Gonzalo P.; Labarca, Mariana; Perez-Molina, Francisca; de la Pena, Adely; Herrera-Cid, Cristian; Ehrenfeld, Pamela; Godoy, Alejandro S.; Gonzalez, Alfonso; Soza, Andrea
    Acute kidney injury (AKI), characterized by a sudden decline in kidney function involving tubular damage and epithelial cell death, can lead to progressive tissue fibrosis and chronic kidney disease due to interstitial fibroblast activation and tissue repair failures that lack direct treatments. After an AKI episode, surviving renal tubular cells undergo cycles of dedifferentiation, proliferation and redifferentiation while fibroblast activity increases and then declines to avoid an exaggerated extracellular matrix deposition. Appropriate tissue recovery versus pathogenic fibrotic progression depends on fine-tuning all these processes. Identifying endogenous factors able to affect any of them may offer new therapeutic opportunities to improve AKI outcomes. Galectin-8 (Gal-8) is an endogenous carbohydrate-binding protein that is secreted through an unconventional mechanism, binds to glycosylated proteins at the cell surface and modifies various cellular activities, including cell proliferation and survival against stress conditions. Here, using a mouse model of AKI induced by folic acid, we show that pretreatment with Gal-8 protects against cell death, promotes epithelial cell redifferentiation and improves renal function. In addition, Gal-8 decreases fibroblast activation, resulting in less expression of fibrotic genes. Gal-8 added after AKI induction is also effective in maintaining renal function against damage, improving epithelial cell survival. The ability to protect kidneys from injury during both pre- and post-treatments, coupled with its anti-fibrotic effect, highlights Gal-8 as an endogenous factor to be considered in therapeutic strategies aimed at improving renal function and mitigating chronic pathogenic progression.
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    Nephrotic Syndrome and Acute Tubular Necrosis Due to Meloxicam Use
    (TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD, 2012) Vega, Jorge; Goecke, Helmuth; Mendez, Gonzalo P.; Guarda, Francisco J.
    Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are widely used by patients all over the world. Five to eighteen percent of the patients who receive NSAIDs can suffer from kidney-related side effects. Among them, the most relevant are sodium and water retention, hyponatremia, worsening of hypertension or preexisting cardiac failure, hyperkalemia, acute kidney injury, chronic kidney disease, papillary necrosis, nephrotic syndrome (NS), and acute interstitial nephritis. We report the case of a 65-year-old woman who developed acute tubular necrosis and NS a few days after receiving 15 mg of meloxicam (MLX) for 3 days for tendinitis. Steroid therapy was begun with normalization of kidney function after 7 weeks of treatment. NS (minimal change disease) was characterized by frequent remissions and relapses as prednisone was lowered under 30 mg/day. Azathioprine (100 mg/day) was added on the fifth month of diagnosis and a complete remission was finally obtained 4 years after hospital admittance. In her last medical checkup, 8 years after her debut and receiving azathioprine (50 mg) and prednisone (5 mg/day), renal function was normal (creatinine 1.0 mg/dL and creatinine clearance 80 mL/min/1.73 m(2)), proteinuria was 150 mg/day and there was no hematuria or hypertension.
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    Pseudodematiaceous Fungi in Rhinosinusal Biopsies: Report of 2 Cases With Light and Electron Microscopy Analysis
    (2019) Oddo, David; Cisternas, Daisy; Mendez, Gonzalo P.
    The diagnosis of a mycosis is often established through a biopsy, which allows to differentiate invasive and non-invasive lesions, and also to identify hyaline and dematiaceous fungi. However, pigmented fungal elements that do not correspond to dematiaceous fungi, which we have called pseudodematiaceous, can occasionally be present in biopsies. Herein, we present 2 cases of mycosis caused by pseudodematiaceous fungi in rhinosinusal biopsies. A new classification for fungi identified in biopsies is proposed, dividing them into 3 groups: hyaline, dematiaceous, and pseudodematiaceous.
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    Takayasu's arteritis and secondary membranous nephropathy: an exceptional association
    (2021) Enos, Daniel; Labarca, Gonzalo; Hernandez, Mariel; Mendez, Gonzalo P.
    The association between Takayasu's arteritis and membranous nephropathy is uncommon. We present the case of a 46-year-old man with Takayasu's arteritis treated over 10 years by a multidisciplinary medical team. He had an atrophic left kidney due to arterial stenosis, with a basal creatinine of 1.59 mg/dL (140.55 mu mol/l). Three years ago, he presented with full nephrotic syndrome, uncontrolled blood pressure, creatinine increases to 4.5 mg/dL (basal: 1.59 mg/dL), severe hypoalbuminaemia (1.4 g/dL) and albuminuria of 24.6 g per day. He underwent percutaneous biopsy of the right kidney that showed membranous nephropathy with negative PLA2R1 and positive IgG 1, 3 and 4 subclasses. After therapy with oral prednisone and cyclophosphamide, the patient's kidney function improved, without recurrence of disease after 3 years of follow-up. Here, we present this extremely uncommon association of Takayasu's arteritis and membranous nephropathy.