PATIENT WITH RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS AND ACUTE RENAL FAILURE: A CASE REPORT AND REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease also known as an example of connective tissue disease. There are no case-controlled studies to determine the frequency of renal disease in RA. Most of patients present slow progression of chronic kidney disease while acute renal failure is uncommon in rheumatoid arthritis. We report a case of a 40-year-old woman with established medical history of RA who presented with abrupt onset of severe hypertension with rapidly growing serum creatinine concentration and oliguria. Renal biopsy revealed oedematous intimal thickening of vessels and ischemic changes in glomeruli, and nonspecific lesions in tubules and interstitium. These pathological findings were consistent with the scleroderma nephropathy. Additionally, we provided a brief literature overview on coincidence of hypertension and different types of connective tissue diseases.