Tuberculosis as a continuing cause of renal amyloidosis.

In 40 patients with renal amyloidosis seen in a ten-year period tuberculosis was the major preceding disease in 20, though it was active in only two at diagnosis. Most patients presented with renal failure, and only two survived for five years. This experience (at least, in the west of Scotland) conflicts with the generally accepted view that rheumatoid arthritis is the commonest cause of renal amyloidosis.