STUDIES ON END-STAGE KIDNEYS .2. EMBRYONAL HYPERPLASIA OF BOWMANS CAPSULAR EPITHELIUM

Abstract

Clusters of deeply staining embryonal-type epithelial cells surround hyaline glomeruli in some patients with end-stage renal disease treated with dialysis. Kindyes of 40 patients, dialyzed for 2 mo.-2 yr, were studied with a variety of histologic and histochemical staining techniques. In 4 of these cases such embryonal-type cell clusters, arising from the parietal epithelium of Bowman''s capsule and termed embryonal hyperplasia of Bowman''s capsule epithelium (EHBCE), were identified. In 6 additional cases there were similar cells in a tubular pattern, resembling the adenomatoid or pseudotubule structures of chronic, cresentic glomerulonephritis. The largest lesions were often found in groups within localized areas of cortex, giving their distribution a field effect. In such cases they have the appearance of new growths, suggesting induction of a less differentiated cell type in these diseased adult tissues.