What Are The Symptoms of Lupus Nephritis

It is called lupus nephritis when systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) causes renal damages. Lupus nephritis patients will have a series of symptoms involving glomeruli, renal tubules as well as renal interstitial and vascular damages.

Lupus nephritis has a variety of pathological types and each has different clinical symptoms.

Asymptomatic proteinuria and (or) hematuria

This type is relatively common, patients can only have proteinuria or hematuria without edema or high blood pressure. The prognosis is better and kidney functions can be normal.

Nephrotic syndrome

If the patients have massive proteinuria, hypoproteinemia and edema but no hyperlipidaemia, the illness progression is usually slow with a survival rate within 10 years of 50%.

Chronic nephritis

Patients can have high blood pressure, proteinuria, renal dysfunction and renal failure. There can be red blood cells and urinary cylinder in urine sediment. They type of lupus nephritis usually lasts for long time and is not easy to be cured and will in the end progress into end stage renal failure. Controlling high blood pressure is very important for patients of this type.

Acute renal failure

Patients can develop acute renal failure and have much reduced urine output within short time. And at the same time patients can have systemic symptoms and this type is often progressed from nephrotic syndrome type or persistent badly controlled proteinuria and hematuria. In case of acute renal failure, patients should go to local kidney disease hospital and seek immediate and proper treatments to reverse renal damages and recover kidney functions.

Renal tubular damages

Lupus can damage renal tubules and patients can have low urine specific gravity and osmotic pressure, frequent night urination as well as electrolyte disorders such as hyperkalaemia or hypokalaemia, etc.

Besides, some patients can have thrombus, thrombocytopenia and pregnant patients have the risk of abortion. Thrombus and thrombocytopenia can reduce blood flow to the kidneys and damage renal tissues and renal functions.