The Evolution of Intercapillary Glomerulosclerosis

Abstract

IN 1936, Kimmelstiel and Wilson¹ described a diffuse, microscopic lesion in the kidneys of 8 middle-aged and elderly diabetic patients with hypertension, profuse albuminuria and generalized edema. The abnormality was termed "intercapillary glomerulosclerosis" and consisted of striking changes in the intercapillary tissue characterized by large hyaline masses confined to the centers of the glomeruli or glomerular lobules. Less severe degrees of this hyalinization were also reported. These observations have been confirmed and extended by many authors,^{2 3 4 5 6 7 8} and the subject has recently been reviewed by Kimmelstiel and Porter.⁹ The available published data are inconclusive concerning the period necessary for the evolution . . .