Renal mucormycosis in the HIV patient.

Mucormycosis is an increasingly recognized opportunistic infection. It usually affects patients with debilitating conditions such as cancer, diabetes mellitus, renal failure, and extensive burns. Mucor infection has also been described in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) patients. The most common clinical presentations are the cerebral, cutaneous, and renal forms. We describe a unique case of bilateral renal mucormycosis presenting with renal failure in an HIV-infected patient. In the immunosuppressed host, a history of intravenous (IV) drug abuse associated with symptoms of pyelonephritis should alert the clinician to the possibility of mucor infection. Blood and urine culture are often negative. The diagnosis is made histologically in most cases. The treatment of HIV patients with mucormycosis and renal failure includes hemodialysis, nephrectomy, and intravenous amphotericin in addition to antiretroviral therapy. Bilateral renal involvement with Mucor carries a poor prognosis.

Oncotic pressure and edema formation in hypoalbuminemic HIV-infected patients with proteinuria.

Human immunodeficiency virus nephropathy (HIVN) continues to challenge nephrologic consultative services at major urban institutions. Although noted in the literature, the decreased incidence of peripheral edema in HIVN has been unexplained to date. In HIV patients, total proteins frequently are found to be elevated due to an elevated globulin fraction. The impact that plasma proteins, specifically globulins, have on the total oncotic pressure has not been reported in HIVN, but may play a role in the paucity of edema noted in this proteinuric population. To evaluate the contributions of serum globulin to the total oncotic pressure and the presence or absence of edema in HIVN, we randomly selected 27 patients with proteinuria greater than 2.5 g/24 hr and serum albumin less than 3.1 g/dL from patients presenting to the nephrology outpatient clinic at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital. Seventeen of the patients (63%) had a known diagnosis of HIV infection (group 1). These patients were subdivided into two subgroups: those presenting with clinically evident edema on physical examination (n = 7 [41%]; group 1A) and those who had an absence of edema (n = 10 [59%]; group 1B). Conversely, group 2 comprised 10 patients without known HIV infection, of whom six (60%) had edema (group 2A) and four (40%) did not (group 2B). Blood pressures were noted, and mean arterial pressure was calculated using standard formulas. Serum albumin, serum total proteins, and urine total proteins were measured using standard laboratory methods. Oncotic pressures for albumin (alpha), globulin (beta), and total protein (c) were calculated using the following formula: COPpl = alpha(2.8c + 0.18c2 + 0.012c3) + beta(0.9c + 0.12c2 + 0.004c3). We used Student's t-test to analyze the data. There is no significant difference between the albumin concentrations of HIV patients without edema (group 1B) and non-HIV patients with edema (group 2A), with mean concentrations of 2.3 +/- 0.1 g/dL versus 2.3 +/- 0.15 g/dL, respectively (P = NS). Group 1B, however, has a total oncotic pressure of 17.1 +/- 1.5 mm Hg, whereas both groups with edema (groups 1A and 2A) have statistically significant lower total oncotic pressures (12.1 +/- 2.3 mm Hg and 12.9 +/- 1.1 mm Hg, respectively; P < 0.05). The globulin oncotic pressures may account for some of the differences in total oncotic pressures, being significantly higher for those patients without edema in group 1B compared with group 2A (7.1 +/- 0.9 mm Hg v 3.9 +/- 0.4 mm Hg, respectively; P < 0.05). In patients with HIV, however, the presence or absence of edema is mandated by albumin concentration because both groups have similar globulin concentrations (group 1A 3.1 +/- 0.1 g/dL v group 1B 3.8 +/- 0.3 g/dL; P = NS). Mean arterial pressure does not play a role in edema formation in this study because the HIV patients without edema had the higher blood pressures (group 1B 97.8 +/- 4.7 mm Hg v group 2A 84.7 +/- 5.5 mm Hg; P < 0.05). We conclude that globulins play an important role in maintaining oncotic pressure in low albumin states. HIVN patients with increased serum immune globulin may benefit from higher globulin oncotic pressure, delaying the onset of clinical edema in the setting of proteinuria.