Dense Deposits Disease

Abstract

Renewed interest in dense deposits disease was recently generated by the finding of: the recurrence of an identical lesion in patients who received renal allografts; the presence of characteristic abnormalities in the complement profile in almost all cases and an association of dense deposits disease with partial lipidystrophy (PLD). These particular points are further discussed: the status of dense deposits in the spectrum of primary glomerular diseases; the relationship between the dense lesion and the development of glomerulonephritis; and the relationship between dense deposits and complement abnormalities.