Kidney biopsy confirms active GPA

[lollypocket]

Hi,

Thought I'd update what has happened since my last post. I have seen my rheumatologist twice now, given pred and was put forward for rituximab. Due to the blood and protein in my pee I was referred to renal and had a kidney biopsy on Wednesday of this week. It has been confirmed that my vasculitis is active in the kidneys. I am due to have bloods and a chest x-ray on Friday before any infusion can commence.

I was very lucky 8 years ago and the only real damage was from prolonged pred use (cataracts). Things are moving in the right direction now so fingers crossed that it hasn't done too much damage.

All the best 😘

[Investigator1]

Hi lollypocket. Glad things are under control. I had kidney activity but they now function normally, I think there’s got to be a “full attack for a prolonged period” to do any significant damage. I really hope things work out well going forward. Nick.

[Rosie7may]

so glad. Just make sure you have your bone profile checked for osteoporosis as that is hidden with no obvious symptoms. Good luck Rosie

[Chris-Bromsgrove]

Hi Lollypocket. Good to hear you are fully diagnosed and have a treatment plan in place. The biopsy should give an indication of the extent of damage to the filtering units (glomeruli) in your kidneys. Those that are chronically damaged can't recover but acute damage can repair itself. And as Nick says it depends on how prolonged the attack has been. My kidneys were not in a good state on diagnosis but they recovered remarkably well with EGFR readings now in the high seventies. Good luck with your recovery.

[lollypocket]

Thank you for your replies. It is good to hear that things may not be as bad as they could be. Hoping we have caught it fairly quickly. Have, only had confirmation of activity and not the extent so far 🤞