Kidney Biopsy Proven Thrombotic Microangiopathy Induced by Methamphetamine

Abstract

A 47-year-old man was admitted to our hospital with acute kidney injury, severe hypertension, heart failure, thrombocytopenia, and elevated lactate dehydrogenase. Renal biopsy revealed fibrin thrombi within the glomerular capillaries and moderate fibrotic intimal thickening in the interlobular arteries. The histological diagnosis was thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA). Regarding cardiac involvement, we found marked stenosis in the left anterior descending artery on coronary angiography and cardiomyopathy on myocardial biopsy. Blood concentrations of amphetamine and methamphetamine were high (14.1 ng/mL and 333 ng/mL, respectively). It is important to consider methamphetamine as a cause of renal TMA and multi-organ dysfunction.