Primary Anti-phospholipid Antibody Syndrome Presenting as Acute Nephritic Syndrome

Abstract

Primary anti-phospholipid antibody (APLA) syndrome in males most commonly presents with clinical manifestations of venous thrombosis, thrombocytopenia, and pulmonary embolism. Although most present with acute symptoms following arterial thrombosis, diagnosis following evaluation for elevated renal function tests and hypertension is less common. We report here a case of a 22-year-old man who presented with acute nephritic syndrome following an acute febrile illness. He was detected to have altered renal function tests with serum creatinine of 1.6 mg/dL (141.4 µmol/L), microscopic hematuria, and proteinuria along with hypertension. His 24-h urine protein was 1700 g/day. He was planned for a kidney biopsy. Subsequent evaluations revealed an isolated elevation of activated partial thromboplastin time. Further evaluation revealed positive APLA syndrome. He underwent kidney biopsy later which showed mesangial hypercellularity with no involvement of the renal parenchymal vasculature. The reported case is an unusual presentation of primary APLA syndrome with acute nephritic syndrome.