AA amyloidosis in the renal allograft: a report of two cases and review of the literature

AA amyloidosis is a disorder characterized by the abnormal formation, accumulation and systemic deposition of fibrillary material that frequently involves the kidney. Recurrent AA amyloidosis in the renal allograft has been documented in patients with tuberculosis, familial Mediterranean fever, ankylosing spondylitis, chronic pyelonephritis and rheumatoid arthritis. De novo AA amyloidosis is rarely described. We report two cases of AA amyloidosis in the renal allograft. Our first case is a 47-year-old male with a history of ankylosing spondylitis who developed end-stage renal disease reportedly from tubulointerstitial nephritis from non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agent use. A biopsy was never performed. One year after transplantation, AA amyloidosis was identified in the femoral head and 8 years post-transplantation, AA amyloidosis was identified in the renal allograft. He was treated with colchicine and adalimumab and has stable renal function at 1 year-follow-up. Our second case is a 57-year-old male with a long history of intravenous drug use and hepatitis C infection who developed end-stage kidney disease due to AA amyloidosis. Our second patient's course was complicated by renal adenovirus, pulmonary aspergillosis and hepatitis C with AA amyloidosis subsequently being identified in the allograft 2.5 years post-transplantation. Renal allograft function remains stable 4-years post-transplantation. These reports describe clinical and pathologic features of two cases of AA amyloidosis presenting with proteinuria and focal involvement of the renal allograft.