Background: Little is known about the rate and predictors of finding lesions of monoclonal gammopathy (MG) of renal significance (MGRS) on kidney biopsy specimens among patients with MG.
Methods: We reviewed the medical records from 2013 to 2018 at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, to identify patients with MG and whether they had undergone a kidney biopsy. In a more select group of patients with MG from 2017 to 2018, we conducted a review of records to determine how many had underlying CKD, which of those with CKD had undergone a kidney biopsy, and reasons for deferring a kidney biopsy.
Results: Between 2013 and 2018, we identified 6300 patients who had MG, 160 (2.5%) of whom had undergone a kidney biopsy. Of the 160 patients, 64 (40%) had an MGRS lesion; amyloid light chain amyloidosis, the most common finding, accounted for nearly half of these lesions. In the non-MGRS group comprising 96 patients, 23 had arteriosclerosis, the most common finding. In multivariate analysis, strong predictors of finding an MGRS lesion included the presence of an elevated free light chain ratio, proteinuria, and hematuria. Among 596 patients with CKD and MG from 2017 to 2018, 62 (10.4%) underwent a kidney biopsy. Kidney biopsy was deferred for 70 patients (20%); for 62 of the 70, the diagnosis was already known, and eight were not candidates for therapy. Younger age and higher proteinuria and serum creatinine levels increased the likelihood that the patient would undergo a kidney biopsy.
Conclusions: Proteinuria ≥1.5 g/d, hematuria, and an elevated free light chain ratio increase the likelihood of finding MGRS, and a kidney biopsy should be highly considered in such patients.
Keywords: MGRS; MGUS; kidney biopsy; monoclonal gammopathy of renal significance; monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance; renal biopsy.
Copyright © 2020 by the American Society of Nephrology.