De novo membrano-proliferative glomerulonephritis in a renal allograft.

De novo glomerulonephritis (GN) in the graft is an uncommon complication of renal transplantation. We report a case of de novo membrano-proliferative GN which occurred in a second cadaver allograft in a 42-year-old woman, who developed severe hypertension, nephrotic syndrome, and progressive renal failure. Our material and a review of the literature suggest an incidence of de novo GN of about 0.5-2%. In contrast to most of the cases described by other authors, the membrano-proliferative type of de novo GN in renal allografts seems to be very rare.