ULTRASTRUCTURAL CALCIFICATION OF GLOMERULAR IMMUNE-COMPLEXES

We report a previously undescribed ultrastructural calcification of gl omerular immune complex depositions in a patient with lupus nephritis. Such processes give rise to a distinctive ultrastructural calcified m icrospheriol in electron-dense immune deposits, and were associated wi th hypercalcemia and nephrocalcinosis. The cause of hypercalcemia in t his patient was uncertain, but related to a granulomatous inflammation and abscess of the breast, Whereas ultrastructural microcalcification was associated with hypercalcemia, its distribution in the segmental glomerular lesions suggests that an inflammatory process was contribut ory, The clinical follow-up indicates that the microcalcifications of immune complexes have not affected the outcome of nephritis and renal function.